New radio secondary cell activation with fine-beam channel state information

ABSTRACT

An electronic device may receive, from a radio node, a measurement configuration associated with a wireless communication system. In response, the electronic device may perform measurements using narrow beam patterns based at least in part on a network configuration, where the narrow beam patterns are narrower than a wide beam pattern of the electronic device. Furthermore, performing the measurements using the narrow beams pattern may include performing a beam-pattern search up to the network configuration. Then, the electronic device may perform an SCell activation procedure of an SCell with the radio node. Note that the SCell activation procedure may include reporting, to the radio node, CSI of a narrow beam pattern of the SCell that is to be activated, where the narrow beam pattern is narrower than the wide beam pattern of the electronic device, and the narrow beam pattern is based at least in part on the measurements.

FIELD

The present application relates to wireless communications, including toapparatuses, systems, and methods for activating a secondary cell(SCell) with a narrow beam in a wireless communication system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. In recentyears, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablet computers havebecome increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephonecalls, many mobile devices now provide access to the internet, email,text messaging, and navigation using the global positioning system(GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications thatutilize these functionalities.

Long Term Evolution (LTE) has become the technology of choice for themajority of wireless network operators worldwide, providing mobilebroadband data and high-speed Internet access to their subscriber base.LTE defines a number of downlink (DL) physical channels, categorized astransport or control channels, to carry information blocks received frommedium access control (MAC) and higher layers. LTE also defines a numberof physical layer channels for the uplink (UL).

For example, LTE defines a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) as aDL transport channel. The PDSCH is the main data-bearing channelallocated to users on a dynamic and opportunistic basis. The PDSCHcarries data in Transport Blocks (TB) corresponding to a MAC protocoldata unit (PDU), passed from the MAC layer to the physical (PHY) layeronce per Transmission Time Interval (TTI). The PDSCH is also used totransmit broadcast information such as System Information Blocks (SIB)and paging messages.

As another example, LTE defines a Physical Downlink Control Channel(PDCCH) as a DL control channel that carries the resource assignment forUEs that are contained in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.Multiple PDCCHs can be transmitted in the same subframe using ControlChannel Elements (CCE), each of which is a nine set of four resourceelements known as Resource Element Groups (REG). The PDCCH employsquadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation, with four QPSK symbolsmapped to each REG. Furthermore, 1, 2, 4, or 8 CCEs can be used for aUE, depending on channel conditions, to ensure sufficient robustness.

Additionally, LTE defines a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) as aUL channel shared by all devices (user equipment, UE) in a radio cell totransmit user data to the network. The scheduling for all UEs is undercontrol of the LTE base station (enhanced Node B, or eNB). The eNB usesthe uplink scheduling grant (DCI format 0) to inform the UE aboutresource block (RB) assignment, and the modulation and coding scheme tobe used. PUSCH typically supports QPSK and quadrature amplitudemodulation (QAM). In addition to user data, the PUSCH also carries anycontrol information necessary to decode the information, such astransport format indicators and multiple-in multiple-out (MIMO)parameters. Control data is multiplexed with information data prior todigital Fourier transform (DFT) spreading.

A proposed next telecommunications standard moving beyond the currentInternational Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced)Standards is called 5th generation mobile networks or 5th generationwireless systems, or 5G for short (otherwise known as 5G-NR for 5G NewRadio, also simply referred to as NR). 5G-NR proposes a higher capacityfor a higher density of mobile broadband users, also supportingdevice-to-device, ultra-reliable, and massive machine communications, aswell as lower latency and lower battery consumption, than current LTEstandards. Further, the 5G-NR standard may allow for less restrictive UEscheduling as compared to current LTE standards. Consequently, effortsare being made in ongoing developments of 5G-NR to take advantage ofhigher throughputs possible at higher frequencies.

SUMMARY

Embodiments relate to apparatuses, systems, and methods for activatingan SCell with a narrow beam pattern in a wireless communication system,such as a wireless communication system that is compatible with 5G.

In some embodiments, an electronic device includes: an antenna, and aninterface circuit. During operation, the electronic device may receive,from a radio node, information including a measurement configurationassociated with a wireless communication system (such as acellular-telephone network). In response, the electronic device mayperform measurements using narrow beam patterns based at least in parton a network configuration, where the narrow beam patterns are narrowerthan a wide beam pattern of the electronic device. Then, the electronicdevice may conduct an SCell activation procedure of an SCell with theradio node.

For example, the measurement configuration may include a physical layer(L1) reference signal receive power (RSRP) measurement configuration.Moreover, the information may include a transmission configurationindicator (TCI).

Furthermore, performing the measurements using the narrow beams patternmay include performing a beam-pattern search up to the networkconfiguration.

Note that the SCell activation procedure may include: receiving, fromthe radio node, the SCell activation; and reporting, to the radio node,channel state information (CSI) of a narrow beam pattern of the SCellthat is to be activated, where the narrow beam pattern is narrower thanthe wide beam pattern of the electronic device, and the narrow beampattern is based at least in part on the measurements.

Moreover, the electronic device may provide, to the radio node, resultsof the measurements (such as a measurement report). Furthermore, theelectronic device may receive, from the radio node, a TCI activation,where the TCI activation may be received no later than the reporting ofthe CSI of the narrow beam pattern of the SCell.

Additionally, an SCell activation delay requirement in the SCellactivation procedure may be independent of a TCI activation delay.

Note that the SCell may be in a frequency range 2 (FR2) of the wirelesscommunication system. Moreover, the TCI activation delay may be based atleast in part on second measurements performed using a second beampattern that is wider than the narrow beam pattern and the secondmeasurements may be based at least in part on an SCell configuration.

In some embodiments, the TCI activation may have a time duration of atleast a non-zero integer multiple of a synchronization signal block(SSB)-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) time (TSMTC) of theSCell.

Moreover, the radio node may include an eNodeB.

Furthermore, the SCell activation procedure may occur without TCIactivation with an activation time corresponding to one of: a firstnon-zero integer multiple of a maximum TSMC plus the TSMC of the SCellwhen the SCell is a first type of SCell (such as an unknown SCell), anda second non-zero integer multiple of a maximum TSMC the SCell when theSCell is a second type of SCell (such as a known SCell).

Other embodiments provide the radio node.

Other embodiments provide an integrated circuit (such as the interfacecircuit) for use with the electronic device.

Other embodiments provide the wireless communication system thatincludes the radio node.

Other embodiments provide a computer-readable storage medium for usewith the electronic device or the radio node. When program instructionsstored in the computer-readable storage medium are executed by theelectronic device or the radio node, the program instructions may causethe electronic device or the radio node to perform at least some of theaforementioned operations of the electronic device or the radio node.

Other embodiments provide a method for activating an SCell with a narrowbeam in a wireless communication system. The method includes at leastsome of the aforementioned operations performed by the electronic deviceor the radio node.

The techniques described herein may be implemented in and/or used with anumber of different types of user equipment, including but not limitedto cellular phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices,portable media players, and any of various other computing devices.

This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of thesubject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that the above-described features are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparentfrom the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

Note that the following detailed description refers to the accompanyingdrawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawingsto identify the same or similar elements. In the following description,for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are setforth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces,techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of thevarious aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosurethat the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced inother examples that depart from these specific details. In certaininstances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods areomitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodimentswith unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, thephrase “A or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). An architecture includes,but is not limited to, a network topology. Examples of an architectureinclude, but is not limited to, a network, a network topology, and asystem. Examples of a network include, but is not limited to, a timesensitive network (TSN), a core network (CN), any other suitable networkknown in the field of wireless communications, or any combinationthereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtainedwhen the following detailed description of various embodiments isconsidered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates an example wireless communication system accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of a base station (BS) and an accesspoint in communication with a user equipment (UE) device according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a WLAN AccessPoint (AP), according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example block diagram of a UE according to someembodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a BS according to someembodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example block diagram of cellular communicationcircuitry, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of connections between an EPC network, anLTE base station (eNB), and a 5G NR base station (gNB).

FIG. 6B illustrates an example of a protocol stack for an eNB and a gNB.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a 5G network architecture thatincorporates both 3GPP (e.g., cellular) and non-3GPP (e.g.,non-cellular) access to the 5G CN, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example of a 5G network architecture thatincorporates both dual 3GPP (e.g., LTE and 5G NR) access and non-3GPPaccess to the 5G CN, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a baseband processor architecture for aUE, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a procedure for SCell activation with awide beam, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a procedure for SCell activation witha narrow beam, according to some embodiments

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method for activating an SCell wan anarrow beam in a wireless communication system, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an architecture of a system of anetwork, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an architecture of a system, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an architecture of a system, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a platform, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a components of baseband circuitry andradio front end modules, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of protocol functions that may beimplemented in a wireless communication device, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of components of a core network,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of components that are able to readinstructions from a computer-readable storage medium and to perform oneor more functions, according to some embodiments.

While the features described herein may be susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof areshown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described indetail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particularform disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An electronic device (such as a UE) that activates an SCell with anarrow beam is described. During operation, the electronic device mayreceive, from a radio node, information including a measurementconfiguration associated with a wireless communication system (such as acellular-telephone network). For example, the measurement configurationmay include a physical layer RSRP measurement configuration. Moreover,the information may include a TCI. In response, the electronic devicemay perform measurements using narrow beam patterns based at least inpart on a network configuration, where the narrow beam patterns arenarrower than a wide beam pattern of the electronic device. Furthermore,performing the measurements using the narrow beams pattern may includeperforming a beam-pattern search up to the network configuration. Then,the electronic device may conduct an SCell activation procedure of theSCell with the radio node. Note that the SCell activation procedure mayinclude: receiving, from the radio node, the SCell activation; andreporting, to the radio node, CSI of a narrow beam pattern of the SCellthat is to be activated, where the narrow beam pattern is narrower thanthe wide beam pattern of the electronic device, and the narrow beampattern is based at least in part on the measurements.

By providing the CSI of the narrow beam pattern of the SCell, thesecommunication techniques enable improved communication performance inthe wireless communication system. Notably, the communication techniquesmay provide reliable PDCCH and PUSCH when the SCell is activated byallowing the narrow beam pattern to be used. Consequently, thecommunication techniques may provide improved service in the wirelesscommunication system.

Terms

The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices orstorage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include aninstallation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; acomputer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM,SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash,magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, orother similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium mayinclude other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinationsthereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a firstcomputer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located ina second different computer system which connects to the first computersystem over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, thesecond computer system may provide program instructions to the firstcomputer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or morememory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., indifferent computer systems that are connected over a network. The memorymedium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computerprograms) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devicescomprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via aprogrammable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (FieldProgrammable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmablefunction blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processorcores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as“reconfigurable logic”.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or otherdevice or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computersystem” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combinationof devices) having at least one processor that executes instructionsfrom a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wirelesscommunications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones orsmart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gamingdevices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™,iPhone™), laptops, wearable devices (e.g. smart watch, smart glasses),PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, orother handheld devices, etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device”can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/ortelecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easilytransported by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Base Station—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication stationinstalled at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of awireless telephone system or radio system.

Processing Element—refers to various elements or combinations ofelements that are capable of performing a function in a device, such asa user equipment or a cellular network device. Processing elements mayinclude, for example: processors and associated memory, portions orcircuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores,processor arrays, circuits such as an ASIC (Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit), programmable hardware elements such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), as well any of various combinations ofthe above.

Channel—a medium used to convey information from a sender (transmitter)to a receiver. It should be noted that since characteristics of the term“channel” may differ according to different wireless protocols, the term“channel” as used herein may be considered as being used in a mannerthat is consistent with the standard of the type of device withreference to which the term is used. In some standards, channel widthsmay be variable (e.g., depending on device capability, band conditions,etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels may be 22 MHz wide whileBluetooth channels may be 1 Mhz wide. Other protocols and standards mayinclude different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standardsmay define and use multiple types of channels, e.g., different channelsfor uplink or downlink and/or different channels for different uses suchas data, control information, etc.

Band—The term “band” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, andat least includes a section of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum)in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

Approximately—refers to a value that is almost correct or exact. Forexample, approximately may refer to a value that is within 1 to 10percent of the exact (or desired) value. It should be noted, however,that the actual threshold value (or tolerance) may be applicationdependent. For example, in some embodiments, “approximately” may meanwithin 0.1% of some specified or desired value, while in various otherembodiments, the threshold may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, and soforth, as desired or as required by the particular application.

Concurrent—refers to parallel execution or performance, where tasks,processes, or programs are performed in an at least partiallyoverlapping manner. For example, concurrency may be implemented using“strong” or strict parallelism, where tasks are performed (at leastpartially) in parallel on respective computational elements, or using“weak parallelism”, where the tasks are performed in an interleavedmanner, e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads.

Various components may be described as “configured to” perform a task ortasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broad recitation generallymeaning “having structure that” performs the task or tasks duringoperation. As such, the component can be configured to perform the taskeven when the component is not currently performing that task (e.g., aset of electrical conductors may be configured to electrically connect amodule to another module, even when the two modules are not connected).In some contexts, “configured to” may be a broad recitation of structuregenerally meaning “having circuitry that” performs the task or tasksduring operation. As such, the component can be configured to performthe task even when the component is not currently on. In general, thecircuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” mayinclude hardware circuits.

Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks, forconvenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpretedas including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a component that isconfigured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) interpretation for that component.

FIGS. 1A and 1B—Communication Systems

FIG. 1A illustrates a simplified example wireless communication system,according to some embodiments. It is noted that the system of FIG. 1 ismerely one example of a possible system, and that features of thisdisclosure may be implemented in any of various systems, as desired.

As shown, the example wireless communication system includes a basestation 102A which communicates over a transmission medium with one ormore user devices 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N. Each of the userdevices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE). Thus, theuser devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices.

The base station (BS) 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) orcell site (a “cellular base station”) and may include hardware thatenables wireless communication with the UEs 106A through 106N.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may bereferred to as a “cell.” The base station 102A and the UEs 106 may beconfigured to communicate over the transmission medium using any ofvarious radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wirelesscommunication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM,UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces),LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G new radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000(e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if the base station102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately bereferred to as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’. Note that if the base station 102Ais implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternately be referredto as ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’.

As shown, the base station 102A may also be equipped to communicate witha network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, atelecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network(PSTN), and/or the Internet, among various possibilities). Thus, thebase station 102A may facilitate communication between the user devicesand/or between the user devices and the network 100. In particular, thecellular base station 102A may provide UEs 106 with varioustelecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and/or data services.

Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations102B . . . 102N) operating according to the same or a different cellularcommunication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, whichmay provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs106A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or morecellular communication standards.

Thus, while base station 102A may act as a “serving cell” for UEs 106A-Nas illustrated in FIG. 1, each UE 106 may also be capable of receivingsignals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or moreother cells (which might be provided by base stations 102B-N and/or anyother base stations), which may be referred to as “neighboring cells”.Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communication betweenuser devices and/or between user devices and the network 100. Such cellsmay include “macro” cells, “micro” cells, “pico” cells, and/or cellswhich provide any of various other granularities of service area size.For example, base stations 102A-B illustrated in FIG. 1 might be macrocells, while base station 102N might be a micro cell. Otherconfigurations are also possible.

In some embodiments, base station 102A may be a next generation basestation, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In someembodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core(EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cellmay include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). Inaddition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connectedto one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

Note that a UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiplewireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may beconfigured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi)and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth,Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellularcommunication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example,WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.). The UE 106 may alsoor alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more globalnavigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or moremobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H),and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Othercombinations of wireless communication standards (including more thantwo wireless communication standards) are also possible.

FIG. 1B illustrates user equipment 106 (e.g., one of the devices 106Athrough 106N) in communication with a base station 102 and an accesspoint 112, according to some embodiments. The UE 106 may be a devicewith both cellular communication capability and non-cellularcommunication capability (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and so forth) such asa mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtuallyany type of wireless device.

The UE 106 may include a processor that is configured to execute programinstructions stored in memory. The UE 106 may perform any of the methodembodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions.Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106 may include a programmablehardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that isconfigured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, orany portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using oneor more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In someembodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, forexample, CDMA2000 (1xRTT/1xEV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD), LTE/LTE-Advanced, or 5G NRusing a single shared radio and/or GSM, LTE, LTE-Advanced, or 5G NRusing the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a singleantenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) forperforming wireless communications. In general, a radio may include anycombination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processingcircuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers,etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation aswell as other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implementone or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementionedhardware. For example, the UE 106 may share one or more parts of areceive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communicationtechnologies, such as those discussed above.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate transmit and/orreceive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radiocomponents) for each wireless communication protocol with which it isconfigured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106 mayinclude one or more radios which are shared between multiple wirelesscommunication protocols, and one or more radios which are usedexclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example,the UE 106 might include a shared radio for communicating using eitherof LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1xRTTor LTE or GSM), and separate radios forcommunicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurationsare also possible.

FIG. 2—Access Point Block Diagram

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an access point (AP)112. It is noted that the block diagram of the AP of FIG. 2 is only oneexample of a possible system. As shown, the AP 112 may includeprocessor(s) 204 which may execute program instructions for the AP 112.The processor(s) 204 may also be coupled (directly or indirectly) tomemory management unit (MMU) 240, which may be configured to receiveaddresses from the processor(s) 204 and to translate those addresses tolocations in memory (e.g., memory 260 and read only memory (ROM) 250) orto other circuits or devices.

The AP 112 may include at least one network port 270. The network port270 may be configured to couple to a wired network and provide aplurality of devices, such as UEs 106, access to the Internet. Forexample, the network port 270 (or an additional network port) may beconfigured to couple to a local network, such as a home network or anenterprise network. For example, port 270 may be an Ethernet port. Thelocal network may provide connectivity to additional networks, such asthe Internet.

The AP 112 may include at least one antenna 234, which may be configuredto operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured tocommunicate with UE 106 via wireless communication circuitry 230. Theantenna 234 communicates with the wireless communication circuitry 230via communication chain 232. Communication chain 232 may include one ormore receive chains, one or more transmit chains or both. The wirelesscommunication circuitry 230 may be configured to communicate via Wi-Fior WLAN, e.g., 802.11. The wireless communication circuitry 230 mayalso, or alternatively, be configured to communicate via various otherwireless communication technologies, including, but not limited to, 5GNR, Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Global System forMobile (GSM), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), CDMA2000,etc., for example when the AP is co-located with a base station in caseof a small cell, or in other instances when it may be desirable for theAP 112 to communicate via various different wireless communicationtechnologies.

In some embodiments, as further described below, an AP 112 may beconfigured to perform methods for software reconfiguration of amulti-radio wireless device that includes multiple radio computers asfurther described herein.

FIG. 3—Block Diagram of a UE

FIG. 3 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of acommunication device 106, according to some embodiments. It is notedthat the block diagram of the communication device of FIG. 3 is only oneexample of a possible communication device. According to embodiments,communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobiledevice or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, adesktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., alaptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or acombination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communicationdevice 106 may include a set of components 300 configured to performcore functions. For example, this set of components may be implementedas a system on chip (SOC), which may include portions for variouspurposes. Alternatively, this set of components 300 may be implementedas separate components or groups of components for the various purposes.The set of components 300 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively;directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communicationdevice 106.

For example, the communication device 106 may include various types ofmemory (e.g., including NAND flash 310), an input/output interface suchas connector I/F 320 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; dock;charging station; input devices, such as a microphone, camera, keyboard;output devices, such as speakers; etc.), the display 360, which may beintegrated with or external to the communication device 106, andcellular communication circuitry 330 such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc.,and short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 (e.g.,Bluetooth™ and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, communicationdevice 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), suchas a network interface card, e.g., for Ethernet.

The cellular communication circuitry 330 may couple (e.g.,communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, suchas antennas 335 and 336 as shown. The short to medium range wirelesscommunication circuitry 329 may also couple (e.g., communicatively;directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337and 338 as shown. Alternatively, the short to medium range wirelesscommunication circuitry 329 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directlyor indirectly) to the antennas 335 and 336 in addition to, or insteadof, coupling (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to theantennas 337 and 338. The short to medium range wireless communicationcircuitry 329 and/or cellular communication circuitry 330 may includemultiple receive chains and/or multiple transmit chains for receivingand/or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in amultiple-input multiple output (MIMO) configuration.

In some embodiments, as further described below, cellular communicationcircuitry 330 may include dedicated receive chains (including and/orcoupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly; dedicatedprocessors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chainfor LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). In addition, in someembodiments, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include a singletransmit chain that may be switched between radios dedicated to specificRATs. For example, a first radio may be dedicated to a first RAT, e.g.,LTE, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and atransmit chain shared with an additional radio, e.g., a second radiothat may be dedicated to a second RAT, e.g., 5G NR, and may be incommunication with a dedicated receive chain and the shared transmitchain.

The communication device 106 may also include and/or be configured foruse with one or more user interface elements. The user interfaceelements may include any of various elements, such as display 360 (whichmay be a touchscreen display), a keyboard (which may be a discretekeyboard or may be implemented as part of a touchscreen display), amouse, a microphone and/or speakers, one or more cameras, one or morebuttons, and/or any of various other elements capable of providinginformation to a user and/or receiving or interpreting user input.

The communication device 106 may further include one or more smart cards345 that include SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such asone or more UICC(s) (Universal Integrated Circuit Card(s)) cards 345.

As shown, the SOC 300 may include processor(s) 302, which may executeprogram instructions for the communication device 106 and displaycircuitry 304, which may perform graphics processing and provide displaysignals to the display 360. The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled tomemory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receiveaddresses from the processor(s) 302 and translate those addresses tolocations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NANDflash memory 310) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as thedisplay circuitry 304, short to medium range wireless communicationcircuitry 329, cellular communication circuitry 330, connector I/F 320,and/or display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memoryprotection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments,the MMU 340 may be included as a portion of the processor(s) 302.

As noted above, the communication device 106 may be configured tocommunicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. Thecommunication device 106 may be configured to perform methods forsoftware reconfiguration of a multi-radio wireless device that includesmultiple radio computers as further described herein.

As described herein, the communication device 106 may include hardwareand software components for implementing the above features for acommunication device 106 to communicate a scheduling profile for powersavings to a network. The processor 302 of the communication device 106may be configured to implement part or all of the features describedherein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memorymedium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium).Alternatively (or in addition), processor 302 may be configured as aprogrammable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable GateArray), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 302 of the communicationdevice 106, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 300,304, 306, 310, 320, 329, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360 may be configured toimplement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processor 302 may include one or moreprocessing elements. Thus, processor 302 may include one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functionsof processor 302. In addition, each integrated circuit may includecircuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured toperform the functions of processor(s) 302.

Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry 330 andshort to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 may eachinclude one or more processing elements. In other words, one or moreprocessing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry330 and, similarly, one or more processing elements may be included inshort to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329. Thus,cellular communication circuitry 330 may include one or more integratedcircuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellularcommunication circuitry 330. In addition, each integrated circuit mayinclude circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.)configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry330. Similarly, the short to medium range wireless communicationcircuitry 329 may include one or more ICs that are configured to performthe functions of short to medium range wireless communication circuitry329. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g.,first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform thefunctions of short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329.

FIG. 4—Block Diagram of a Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a base station 102,according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of FIG.4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the basestation 102 may include processor(s) 404 which may execute programinstructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also becoupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured toreceive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate thoseaddresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory(ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Thenetwork port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network andprovide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to thetelephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also oralternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., acore network of a cellular service provider. The core network mayprovide mobility related services and/or other services to a pluralityof devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 470may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the corenetwork may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devicesserviced by the cellular service provider).

In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation basestation, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In suchembodiments, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolvedpacket core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. Inaddition, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and mayinclude one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition,a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one ormore TRPs within one or more gNBs.

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possiblymultiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured tooperate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured tocommunicate with UE devices 106 via radio 430. The antenna 434communicates with the radio 430 via communication chain 432.Communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain orboth. The radio 430 may be configured to communicate via variouswireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 5G NR,LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly usingmultiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the basestation 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the basestation 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communicationtechnologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 mayinclude an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE aswell as a 5G NR radio for performing communication according to 5G NR.In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as bothan LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility,the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable ofperforming communications according to any of multiple wirelesscommunication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTEand UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

As described further subsequently herein, the BS 102 may includehardware and software components for implementing or supportingimplementation of features described herein. The processor 404 of thebase station 102 may be configured to implement or supportimplementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., byexecuting program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, theprocessor 4U4 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, suchas an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively(or in addition) the processor 404 of the BS 102, in conjunction withone or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or allof the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processor(s) 404 may be comprised ofone or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processingelements may be included in processor(s) 404. Thus, processor(s) 404 mayinclude one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured toperform the functions of processor(s) 404. In addition, each integratedcircuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry,etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor(s) 404.

Further, as described herein, radio 430 may be comprised of one or moreprocessing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements maybe included in radio 430. Thus, radio 430 may include one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functionsof radio 430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry(e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to performthe functions of radio 430.

FIG. 5: Block Diagram of Cellular Communication Circuitry

FIG. 5 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellularcommunication circuitry, according to some embodiments. It is noted thatthe block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of FIG. 5 isonly one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. Accordingto embodiments, cellular communication circuitry 330 may be included ina communication device, such as communication device 106 describedabove. As noted above, communication device 106 may be a user equipment(UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device orwireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobilecomputing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computingdevice), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices.

The cellular communication circuitry 330 may couple (e.g.,communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, suchas antennas 335 a-b and 336 as shown (in FIG. 3). In some embodiments,cellular communication circuitry 330 may include dedicated receivechains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly orindirectly. dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g.,a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). Forexample, as shown in FIG. 5, cellular communication circuitry 330 mayinclude a modem 510 and a modem 520. Modem 510 may be configured forcommunications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, andmodem 520 may be configured for communications according to a secondRAT, e.g., such as 5G NR.

As shown, modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and a memory516 in communication with processors 512. Modem 510 may be incommunication with a radio frequency (RF) front end 530. RF front end530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals.For example, RF front end 530 may include receive circuitry (RX) 532 andtransmit circuitry (TX) 534. In some embodiments, receive circuitry 532may be in communication with downlink (DL) front end 550, which mayinclude circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335 a.

Similarly, modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and a memory526 in communication with processors 522. Modem 520 may be incommunication with an RF front end 540. RF front end 540 may includecircuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RFfront end 540 may include receive circuitry 542 and transmit circuitry544. In some embodiments, receive circuitry 542 may be in communicationwith DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radiosignals via antenna 335 b.

In some embodiments, a switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 534 touplink (UL) front end 572. In addition, switch 570 may couple transmitcircuitry 544 to UL front end 572. UL front end 572 may includecircuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 336. Thus, whencellular communication circuitry 330 receives instructions to transmitaccording to the first RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 510), switch570 may be switched to a first state that allows modem 510 to transmitsignals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain thatincludes transmit circuitry 534 and UL front end 572). Similarly, whencellular communication circuitry 330 receives instructions to transmitaccording to the second RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 520), switch570 may be switched to a second state that allows modem 520 to transmitsignals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain thatincludes transmit circuitry 544 and UL front end 572).

In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry 330 may beconfigured to perform methods for software reconfiguration of amulti-radio wireless device that includes multiple radio computers asfurther described herein.

As described herein, the modem 510 may include hardware and softwarecomponents for implementing the above features or for time divisionmultiplexing UL data for NSA NR operations, as well as the various othertechniques described herein. The processors 512 may be configured toimplement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., byexecuting program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or inaddition), processor 512 may be configured as a programmable hardwareelement, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or inaddition) the processor 512, in conjunction with one or more of theother components 530, 532, 534, 550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may beconfigured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors 512 may include one or moreprocessing elements. Thus, processors 512 may include one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functionsof processors 512. In addition, each integrated circuit may includecircuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured toperform the functions of processors 512.

As described herein, the modem 520 may include hardware and softwarecomponents for implementing the above features for communicating ascheduling profile for power savings to a network, as well as thevarious other techniques described herein. The processors 522 may beconfigured to implement part or all of the features described herein,e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g.,a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or inaddition), processor 522 may be configured as a programmable hardwareelement, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or inaddition) the processor 522, in conjunction with one or more of theother components 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may beconfigured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors 522 may include one or moreprocessing elements. Thus, processors 522 may include one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functionsof processors 522. In addition, each integrated circuit may includecircuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured toperform the functions of processors 522.

5G NR Architecture with LTE

In some implementations, fifth generation (5G) wireless communicationwill initially be deployed concurrently with current wirelesscommunication standards (e.g., LTE). For example, dual connectivitybetween LTE and 5G new radio (5G NR or NR) has been specified as part ofthe initial deployment of NR. Thus, as illustrated in FIGS. 6A-B,evolved packet core (EPC) network 600 may continue to communicate withcurrent LTE base stations (e.g., eNB 602). In addition, eNB 602 may bein communication with a 5G NR base station (e.g., gNB 604) and may passdata between the EPC network 600 and gNB 604. Thus, EPC network 600 maybe used (or reused) and gNB 604 may serve as extra capacity for UEs,e.g., for providing increased downlink throughput to UEs. In otherwords, LTE may be used for control plane signaling and NR may be usedfor user plane signaling. Thus, LTE may be used to establish connectionsto the network and NR may be used for data services.

FIG. 6B illustrates a proposed protocol stack for eNB 602 and gNB 604.As shown, eNB 602 may include a medium access control (MAC) layer 632that interfaces with radio link control (RLC) layers 622 a-b. RLC layer622 a may also interface with packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)layer 612 a and RLC layer 622 b may interface with PDCP layer 612 b.Similar to dual connectivity as specified in LTE-Advanced Release 12,PDCP layer 612 a may interface via a master cell group (MCG) bearer withEPC network 600 whereas PDCP layer 612 b may interface via a splitbearer with EPC network 600.

Additionally, as shown, gNB 604 may include a MAC layer 634 thatinterfaces with RLC layers 624 a-b. RLC layer 624 a may interface withPDCP layer 612 b of eNB 602 via an X2 interface for information exchangeand/or coordination (e.g., scheduling of a UE) between eNB 602 and gNB604. In addition, RLC layer 624 b may interface with PDCP layer 614.Similar to dual connectivity as specified in LTE-Advanced Release 12,PDCP layer 614 may interface with EPC network 600 via a secondary cellgroup (SCG) bearer. Thus, eNB 602 may be considered a master node (MeNB)while gNB 604 may be considered a secondary node (SgNB). In somescenarios, a UE may be required to maintain a connection to both an MeNBand a SgNB. In such scenarios, the MeNB may be used to maintain a radioresource control (RRC) connection to an EPC while the SgNB may be usedfor capacity (e.g., additional downlink and/or uplink throughput).

5G Core Network Architecture—Interworking with Wi-Fi

In some embodiments, the 5G core network (CN) may be accessed via (orthrough) a cellular connection/interface (e.g., via a 3GPP communicationarchitecture/protocol) and a non-cellular connection/interface (e.g., anon-3GPP access architecture/protocol such as Wi-Fi connection). FIG. 7Aillustrates an example of a 5G network architecture that incorporatesboth 3GPP (e.g., cellular) and non-3GPP (e.g., non-cellular) access tothe 5G CN, according to some embodiments. As shown, a user equipmentdevice (e.g., such as UE 106) may access the 5G CN through both a radioaccess network (RAN, e.g., such as gNB or base station 604) and anaccess point, such as AP 112. The AP 112 may include a connection to theInternet 700 as well as a connection to a non-3GPP inter-workingfunction (N3IWF) 702 network entity. The N3IWF may include a connectionto a core access and mobility management function (AMF) 704 of the 5GCN. The AMF 704 may include an instance of a 5G mobility management (5GMM) function associated with the UE 106. In addition, the RAN (e.g., gNB604) may also have a connection to the AMF 704. Thus, the 5G CN maysupport unified authentication over both connections as well as allowsimultaneous registration for UE 106 access via both gNB 604 and AP 112.As shown, the AMF 704 may include one or more functional entitiesassociated with the 5G CN (e.g., network slice selection function (NSSF)720, short message service function (SMSF) 722, application function(AF) 724, unified data management (UDM) 726, policy control function(PCF) 728, and/or authentication server function (AUSF) 730). Note thatthese functional entities may also be supported by a session managementfunction (SMF) 706 a and an SMF 706 b of the 5G CN. The AMF 706 may beconnected to (or in communication with) the SMF 706 a. Further, the gNB604 may in communication with (or connected to) a user plane function(UPF) 708 a that may also be communication with the SMF 706 a.Similarly, the N3IWF 702 may be communicating with a UPF 708 b that mayalso be communicating with the SMF 706 b. Both UPFs may be communicatingwith the data network (e.g., DN 710 a and 710 b) and/or the Internet 700and IMS core network 710.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example of a 5G network architecture thatincorporates both dual 3GPP (e.g., LTE and 5G NR) access and non-3GPPaccess to the 5G CN, according to some embodiments. As shown, a userequipment device (e.g., such as UE 106) may access the 5G CN throughboth a radio access network (RAN, e.g., such as gNB or base station 604or eNB or base station 602) and an access point, such as AP 112. The AP112 may include a connection to the Internet 700 as well as a connectionto the N3IWF 702 network entity. The N3IWF may include a connection tothe AMF 704 of the 5G CN. The AMF 704 may include an instance of the 5GMM function associated with the UE 106. In addition, the RAN (e.g., gNB604) may also have a connection to the AMF 704. Thus, the 5G CN maysupport unified authentication over both connections as well as allowsimultaneous registration for UE 106 access via both gNB 604 and AP 112.In addition, the 5G CN may support dual-registration of the UE on both alegacy network (e.g., LTE via base station 602) and a 5G network (e.g.,via base station 604). As shown, the base station 602 may haveconnections to a mobility management entity (MME) 742 and a servinggateway (SGW) 744. The MME 742 may have connections to both the SGW 744and the AMF 704. In addition, the SGW 744 may have connections to boththe SMF 706 a and the UPF 708 a. As shown, the AMF 704 may include oneor more functional entities associated with the 5G CN (e.g., NSSF 720,SMSF 722, AF 724, UDM 726, PCF 728, and/or AUSF 730). Note that UDM 726may also include a home subscriber server (HSS) function and the PCF mayalso include a policy and charging rules function (PCRF). Note furtherthat these functional entities may also be supported by the SMF706 a andthe SMF 706 b of the 5G CN. The AMF 706 may be connected to (or incommunication with) the SMF 706 a. Further, the gNB 604 may incommunication with (or connected to) the UPF 708 a that may also becommunication with the SMF 706 a. Similarly, the N3IWF 702 may becommunicating with a UPF 708 b that may also be communicating with theSMF 706 b. Both UPFs may be communicating with the data network (e.g.,DN 710 a and 710 b) and/or the Internet 700 and IMS core network 710.

Note that in various embodiments, one or more of the above describednetwork entities may be configured for software reconfiguration of amulti-radio wireless device that includes multiple radio computers,e.g., as further described herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a baseband processor architecture for aUE (e.g., such as UE 106), according to some embodiments. The basebandprocessor architecture 800 described in FIG. 8 may be implemented on oneor more radios (e.g., radios 329 and/or 330 described above) or modems(e.g., modems 510 and/or 520) as described above. As shown, thenon-access stratum (NAS) 810 may include a 5G NAS 820 and a legacy NAS850. The legacy NAS 850 may include a communication connection with alegacy access stratum (AS) 870. The 5G NAS 820 may include communicationconnections with both a 5G AS 840 and a non-3GPP AS 830 and Wi-Fi AS832. The 5G NAS 820 may include functional entities associated with bothaccess stratums. Thus, the 5G NAS 820 may include multiple 5G MMentities 826 and 828 and 5G session management (SM) entities 822 and824. The legacy NAS 850 may include functional entities such as shortmessage service (SMS) entity 852, evolved packet system (EPS) sessionmanagement (ESM) entity 854, session management (SM) entity 856, EPSmobility management (EMM) entity 858, and mobility management (MM)/GPRSmobility management (GMM) entity 860. In addition, the legacy AS 870 mayinclude functional entities such as LTE AS 872, UMTS AS 874, and/orGSM/GPRS AS 876.

Thus, the baseband processor architecture 800 allows for a common 5G-NASfor both 5G cellular and non-cellular (e.g., non-3GPP access). Note thatas shown, the 5G MM may maintain individual connection management andregistration management state machines for each connection.Additionally, a device (e.g., UE 106) may register to a single PLMN(e.g., 5G CN) using 5G cellular access as well as non-cellular access.Further, it may be possible for the device to be in a connected state inone access and an idle state in another access and vice versa. Finally,there may be common 5G-MM procedures (e.g., registration,de-registration, identification, authentication, as so forth) for bothaccesses.

Note that in various embodiments, one or more of the above describedfunctional entities of the 5G NAS and/or 5G AS may be configured toperform methods for software reconfiguration of a multi-radio wirelessdevice that includes multiple radio computers, e.g., as furtherdescribed herein.

Secondary Cell Activation (SCell) in Frequency Rate 2 (FR2)

FIG. 9 presents an example of a procedure for SCell activation with awide beam, according to some embodiments. Note that, in FIG. 9,activation of TCI states for PDCCH/PDSCH may not be triggered.

As shown in FIG. 9, before SCell configuration, a UE may need to measurethe neighboring cells. The possible candidates of SCell to be activatedmay be reported to the gNB. If the measurement configuration includesbeam index reporting, the index of “N” strongest transmit (TX) beams UEreceived may be reported to the gNB. The UE can also be aware thesestrongest TX beams.

Then, after the gNB receives the measurement reporting of the SCells tobe activated, it can forward an “SCell configuration” to the UE.Moreover, when the UE SCell activation was triggered by necessary RRCsingling and MAC CE, the UE may conduct a SCell activation procedureincluding: MAC CE decoding, RF chain warming up, AGC gain settling, cellsearch, etc. Note that, after the activation, normal SCell operationsmay be applied, including CSI reporting, PDCCH monitoring, and PUCCHtransmissions.

In principle the SCell activation procedure in FR2 can begin from theMAC CE reception and end by the CSI feedback to the gNB. However, withthe legacy SCell activation procedure above, the CSI report from the UEafter the completion of the SCell activation was based on the existingwide beam information before the SCell configuration and without any UEbeam refinements. However, the UE can obtain several strongest TX beamsand may establish the initial beam pairing autonomously during the SCellactivation procedure or process. This beam information may be sufficientto guarantee the reliable cell search or RRM measurements. But after theSCell activation, the UE starts to monitor PDCCH and may be prepared forPDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission, which need a narrow UE beam (andwhich may be particularly important for UL, e.g., in order to guaranteethe maximum allowed transmission power). In particular, wide beam may beproblematic for UL TX. Notably, a wide beam is often realized byreducing the number of activated antenna elements within the antennaarray. For example, reducing from four elements to two elements may meana 3 dB RSRP drop in DL, but a 6 dB maximum EIRP drop in UL (a 3 dB TXbeamforming gain loss plus a 3 dB maximum TRP loss). Therefore, the linkbudget of UL and DL may become mismatched when a wide beam is used,which is why a narrow beam may be desired for TX. Furthermore, notethat, after completion of SCell activation, for more precise CSIreporting and RLM, the fine beam monitoring and adjustment may bedesired.

Based on this discussion, in the legacy SCell activation procedure inFR2, the CSI report without narrow beam may not be able to guarantee thereliable of PDCCH and PUSCH. Moreover, in order to avoid a widebeam CSIreport for the activated SCell, it is may be better if the TCIactivation occurred no later than when the UE reports a valid SCell CSIto the gNB.

New Radio SCell Activation with Fine-Beam Channel Status Information(CSI)

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, which presents an example of a procedurefor SCell activation with a narrow beam, according to some embodiments,the network (NW) may also configure some necessary beam measurements andtrigger the narrow beam refinement. Note that this optimization maydepend on the NW configuration, which can happen any time after the UEestablishes an RRC connection with the gNB (which is denoted as “T0” inFIG. 10). In FIG. 10, the narrow-beam measurements and refinement can bescheduled before valid reporting.

Moreover, TCI activation to obtain the narrow TX-RX beam pairing may beindependent of the SCell activation procedure. Therefore, in embodimentsof the proposed communication techniques, SCell activation in the FR2may be defined without TCI activation as:

-   Tactivation_time=[3 ms+N·Tsmtc_max+TSMTC_SCell+2 ms] for an SCell    having a first type of SCell (such as an unknown SCell), and-   Tactivation_time=[3 ms+N·Tsmtc_max+2 ms] for an SCell having a    second type of SCell (such as a a known SCell),    where N is a non-zero integer.

Alternatively, in order to avoid the wide-beam CSI report for theactivated SCell, TCI activation may occur no later than when the UEreports the valid SCell CSI to the gNB. For this TCI activationprocedure and delay requirements, the TCI activation may need at leastM·TSMTC_SCell, where M is a non-zero integer, such as, e.g., 8.

In some embodiments, the specific requirements for TCI activation duringan SCell activation in FR2 may correspond to (e.g., it may involve thesame or corresponding operations) to these used for the general beamidentification. In the present discussion, access nodes (e.g., the gNBs)and UEs that may implement the NR SCell activity with fine-beam CSI areused as illustrative examples.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method 1100 for activating an SCell witha narrow beam in a wireless communication system, according to someembodiments. This method may be performed by an electronic device, suchas a UE, e.g., UE 106 in FIG. 1A, UE 1201 in FIG. 12, UE 1301 in FIG. 13or UE 1401 in FIG. 14.

During operation, the electronic device may receive, from a radio node,information including a measurement configuration (operation 1110)associated with a wireless communication system (such as acellular-telephone network). For example, the measurement configurationmay include a physical layer RSRP measurement configuration. Moreover,the information may include a TCI.

In response, the electronic device may perform measurements using narrowbeam patterns (operation 1112) based at least in part on a networkconfiguration, where the narrow beam patterns are narrower than a widebeam pattern of the electronic device. Furthermore, performing themeasurements using the narrow beams pattern may include performing abeam-pattern search up to the network configuration.

Then, the electronic device may conduct an SCell activation procedure(operation 1114) of an SCell with the radio node. Note that the SCellactivation procedure may include: receiving, from the radio node, theSCell activation; and reporting, to the radio node, CSI of a narrow beampattern of the SCell that is to be activated, where the narrow beampattern is narrower than the wide beam pattern of the electronic device,and the narrow beam pattern is based at least in part on themeasurements.

In some embodiments, the electronic device optionally performs one ormore additional operations (operation 1116). Notably, the electronicdevice may provide, to the radio node, results of the measurements (suchas a measurement report). Furthermore, the electronic device mayreceive, from the radio node, a TCI activation, where the TCI activationmay be received no later than the reporting of the CSI of the narrowbeam pattern of the SCell.

Additionally, an SCell activation delay requirement in the SCellactivation procedure may be independent of a TCI activation delay.Moreover, the TCI activation delay may be based at least in part onsecond measurements performed using a second beam pattern that is widerthan the narrow beam pattern and the second measurements may be based atleast in part on an SCell configuration. In some embodiments, the TCIactivation may have a time duration of at least a non-zero integermultiple of a synchronization signal block (SSB)-based measurementtiming configuration (SMTC) time (TSMTC) of the SCell.

Note that the SCell may be in a FR2 of the wireless communicationsystem.

In some embodiments of method 1100, there may be additional or feweroperations. Further, one or more different operations may be included.Moreover, the order of the operations may be changed, and/or two or moreoperations may be combined into a single operation or performed at leastpartially in parallel.

Systems and Implementations

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an architecture of a system 1200 of anetwork, according to some embodiments. The following description isprovided for an example system 1200 that operates in conjunction withthe LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards as provided by3GPP technical specifications. However, the example embodiments are notlimited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to othernetworks that benefit from the principles described herein, such asfuture 3GPP systems (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), or the like.

As shown by FIG. 12, the system 1200 includes UE 1201 a and UE 1201 b(collectively referred to as “UEs 1201” or “UE 1201”). In this example,UEs 1201 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreenmobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks),but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, suchas: consumer electronics devices, cellular phones, smartphones, featurephones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE)devices, an Instrument Cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices,onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobiledata terminals (MDTs), Electronic Engine Management System (EEMS),electronic/engine control units (ECUs), electronic/engine controlmodules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules,engine management systems (EMS), networked or “smart” appliances, MTCdevices, M2M, IoT devices, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 1201 may be IoT UEs, which maycomprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applicationsutilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologiessuch as M2M or MTC for exchanging data with an MTC server or device viaa PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks.The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange ofdata. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which mayinclude uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within theInternet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs mayexecute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, statusupdates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 1201 may be configured to connect, for example, communicativelycouple, with an or RAN 1210. In embodiments, the RAN 1210 may be an NGRAN or a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN.As used herein, the term “NG RAN” or the like may refer to a RAN 1210that operates in an NR or 5G system 1200, and the term “E-UTRAN” or thelike may refer to a RAN 1210 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 1200.The UEs 1201 utilize connections (or channels) 1203 and 1204,respectively, each of which comprises a physical communicationsinterface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

In this example, the connections 1203 and 1204 are illustrated as an airinterface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent withcellular communications protocols, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMAnetwork protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and/or any of the othercommunications protocols discussed herein. In embodiments, the UEs 1201may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 1205. TheProSe interface 1205 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface1205 and may comprise one or more logical channels, including but notlimited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

The UE 1201 b is shown to be configured to access an AP 1206 (alsoreferred to as “WLAN node 1206,” “WLAN 1206,” “WLAN Termination 1206,”“WT 1206” or the like) via connection 1207. The connection 1207 cancomprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistentwith any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1206 would comprise awireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In this example, the AP 1206 is shownto be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core networkof the wireless system (described in further detail below). In variousembodiments, the UE 1201 b, RAN 1210, and AP 1206 may be configured toutilize LWA operation and/or LWIP operation. The LWA operation mayinvolve the UE 1201 b in RRC CONNECTED being configured by a RAN node1211 a-b to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation mayinvolve the UE 1201 b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 1207)via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g.,IP packets) sent over the connection 1207. IPsec tunneling may includeencapsulating the entirety of original IP packets and adding a newpacket header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packets.

The RAN 1210 can include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 1211 a and1211 b (collectively referred to as “RAN nodes 1211” or “RAN node 1211”)that enable the connections 1203 and 1204. As used herein, the terms“access node,” “access point,” or the like may describe equipment thatprovides the radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivitybetween a network and one or more users. These access nodes can bereferred to as BS, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs,and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial accesspoints) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographicarea (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the term “NG RAN node” or the likemay refer to a RAN node 1211 that operates in an NR or 5G system 1200(for example, a gNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” or the like may referto a RAN node 1211 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 1200 (e.g., aneNB). According to various embodiments, the RAN nodes 1211 may beimplemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as amacrocell base station, and/or a low power (LP) base station forproviding femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smallercoverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared tomacrocells.

In some embodiments, all or parts of the RAN nodes 1211 may beimplemented as one or more software entities running on server computersas part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and/ora virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN orvBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a PDCP split whereinRRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other L2 protocolentities are operated by individual RAN nodes 1211; a MAC/PHY splitwherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUPand the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 1211; or a “lowerPHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper portions of thePHY layer are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lower portions of the PHYlayer are operated by individual RAN nodes 1211. This virtualizedframework allows the freed-up processor cores of the RAN nodes 1211 toperform other virtualized applications. In some implementations, anindividual RAN node 1211 may represent individual gNB-DUs that areconnected to a gNB-CU via individual F1 interfaces (not shown by FIG.12). In these implementations, the gNB-DUs may include one or moreremote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., FIG. 15), and the gNB-CU may beoperated by a server that is located in the RAN 1210 (not shown) or by aserver pool in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBBUP. Additionally oralternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 1211 may be next generationeNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane andcontrol plane protocol terminations toward the UEs 1201, and areconnected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 1420 of FIG. 14) via an NG interface(discussed infra).

In V2X scenarios one or more of the RAN nodes 1211 may be or act asRSUs. The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportationinfrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may beimplemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relativelystationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referredto as a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may bereferred to as an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB maybe referred to as a “gNB-type RSU,” and the like. In one example, an RSUis a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located ona roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs1201 (vUEs 1201). The RSU may also include internal data storagecircuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media,as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicularand pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct ShortRange Communications (DSRC) band to provide very low latencycommunications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance,traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSUmay operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned lowlatency communications, as well as other cellular communicationsservices. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fihotspot (2.4 GHz band) and/or provide connectivity to one or morecellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Thecomputing device(s) and some or all of the radiofrequency circuitry ofthe RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoorinstallation, and may include a network interface controller to providea wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controllerand/or a backhaul network.

Any of the RAN nodes 1211 can terminate the air interface protocol andcan be the first point of contact for the UEs 1201. In some embodiments,any of the RAN nodes 1211 can fulfill various logical functions for theRAN 1210 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC)functions such as radio Dearer management, uplink and downlink dynamicradio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobilitymanagement.

In embodiments, the UEs 1201 can be configured to communicate using OFDMcommunication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 1211over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with variouscommunication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an OFDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SC-FDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelinkcommunications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonalsubcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 1211 to the UEs 1201, whileuplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be atime-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resourcegrid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Sucha time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDMsystems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Eachcolumn and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symboland one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource gridin the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. Thesmallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resourceelement. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, whichdescribe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements.Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in thefrequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resourcesthat currently can be allocated. There are several different physicaldownlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

According to various embodiments, the UEs 1201 and the RAN nodes 1211communicate data (for example, transmit and receive) data over alicensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum” and/or the“licensed band”) and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to asthe “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band”). The licensedspectrum may include channels that operate in the frequency range ofapproximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, whereas the unlicensedspectrum may include the 5 GHz band.

To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UEs 1201 and the RAN nodes1211 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms. In theseimplementations, the UEs 1201 and the RAN nodes 1211 may perform one ormore known medium-sensing operations and/or carrier-sensing operationsin order to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensedspectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupied prior to transmitting inthe unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carrier sensing operations may beperformed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

LBT is a mechanism whereby equipment (for example, UEs 1201 RAN nodes1211, etc.) senses a medium (for example, a channel or carrierfrequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when aspecific channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The mediumsensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED todetermine the presence or absence of other signals on a channel in orderto determine if a channel is occupied or clear. This LBT mechanismallows cellular/LAA networks to coexist with incumbent systems in theunlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensingRF energy across an intended transmission band for a period of time andcomparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

Typically, the incumbent systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based onIEEE 802.11 technologies. WLAN employs a contention-based channel accessmechanism, called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobilestation (MS) such as UE 1201, AP 1206, or the like) intends to transmit,the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. Additionally, abackoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions in situations where morethan one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the sametime. The backoff mechanism may be a counter that is drawn randomlywithin the CWS, which is increased exponentially upon the occurrence ofcollision and reset to a minimum value when the transmission succeeds.The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA/CA ofWLAN. In some implementations, the LBT procedure for DL or ULtransmission bursts including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions,respectively, may have an LAA contention window that is variable inlength between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are minimum and maximumvalues for the CWSs for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for an LAAtransmission may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWSand a MCOT (for example, a transmission burst) may be based ongovernmental regulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanisms are built upon CA technologies of LTE-Advancedsystems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a CC. A CC mayhave a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz and a maximum of fiveCCs can be aggregated, and therefore, a maximum aggregated bandwidth is100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers can bedifferent for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lowerthan the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCscan have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In TDD systems, thenumber of CCs as well as the bandwidths of each CC is usually the samefor DL and UL.

CA also comprises individual serving cells to provide individual CCs.The coverage of the serving cells may differ, for example, because CCson different frequency bands will experience different pathloss. Aprimary service cell or PCell may provide a PCC for both UL and DL, andmay handle RRC and NAS related activities. The other serving cells arereferred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide an individual SCC forboth UL and DL. The SCCs may be added and removed as required, whilechanging the PCC may require the UE 1201 to undergo a handover. In LAA,eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in the unlicensedspectrum (referred to as “LAA SCells”), and the LAA SCells are assistedby a PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configuredwith more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on theconfigured LAA SCells indicating different PUSCH starting positionswithin a same subframe.

The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 1201.The PDCCH carries information about the transport format and resourceallocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It mayalso inform the UEs 1201 about the transport format, resourceallocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel.Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channelresource blocks to the UE 1201 b within a cell) may be performed at anyof the RAN nodes 1211 based on channel quality information fed back fromany of the UEs 1201. The downlink resource assignment information may besent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 1201.

The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey the control information. Before beingmapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may firstbe organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using asub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmittedusing one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to ninesets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four QuadraturePhase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCHcan be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of theDCI and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCHformats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregationlevel, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an EPDCCH that usesPDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may betransmitted using one or more ECCEs. Similar to above, each ECCE maycorrespond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as anEREGs. An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN nodes 1211 may be configured to communicate with one another viainterface 1212. In embodiments where the system 1200 is an LTE system(e.g., when CN 1220 is an EPC 1320 as in FIG. 13), the interface 1212may be an X2 interface 1212. The X2 interface may be defined between twoor more RAN nodes 1211 (e.g., two or more eNBs and the like) thatconnect to EPC 1220, and/or between two eNBs connecting to EPC 1220. Insome implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user planeinterface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U mayprovide flow control mechanisms for user data packets transferred overthe X2 interface, and may be used to communicate information about thedelivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may providespecific sequence number information for user data transferred from aMeNB to an SeNB; information about successful in sequence delivery ofPDCP PDUs to a UE 1201 from an SeNB for user data; information of PDCPPDUs that were not delivered to a UE 1201; information about a currentminimum desired buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting to the UE userdata; and the like. The X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobilityfunctionality, including context transfers from source to target eNBs,user plane transport control, etc.; load management functionality; aswell as inter-cell interference coordination functionality.

In embodiments where the system 1200 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN1220 is an 5GC 1420 as in FIG. 14), the interface 1212 may be an Xninterface 1212. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RANnodes 1211 (e.g., two or more gNBs and the like) that connect to 5GC1220, between a RAN node 1211 (e.g., a gNB) connecting to 5GC 1220 andan eNB, and/or between two eNBs connecting to 5GC 1220. In someimplementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U)interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may providenon-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support/provide dataforwarding and flow control functionality. The Xn-C may providemanagement and error handling functionality, functionality to manage theXn-C interface; mobility support for UE 1201 in a connected mode (e.g.,CM-CONNECTED) including functionality to manage the UE mobility forconnected mode between one or more RAN nodes 1211. The mobility supportmay include context transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 1211to new (target) serving RAN node 1211; and control of user plane tunnelsbetween old (source) serving RAN node 1211 to new (target) serving RANnode 1211. A protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport networklayer built on Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layeron top of a UDP and/or IP layer(s) to carry user plane PDUs. The Xn-Cprotocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol(referred to as Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport networklayer that is built on SCTP. The SCTP may be on top of an IP layer, andmay provide the guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. Inthe transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliverthe signaling PDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stackand/or the Xn-C protocol stack may be same or similar to the user planeand/or control plane protocol stack(s) shown and described herein.

The RAN 1210 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network—inthis embodiment, core network (CN) 1220. The CN 1220 may comprise aplurality of network elements 1222, which are configured to offervarious data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers(e.g., users of UEs 1201) who are connected to the CN 1220 via the RAN1210. The components of the CN 1220 may be implemented in one physicalnode or separate physical nodes including components to read and executeinstructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments,NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the above-describednetwork node functions via executable instructions stored in one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums (described in further detail below). Alogical instantiation of the CN 1220 may be referred to as a networkslice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 1220 may bereferred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architectures andinfrastructures may be used to virtualize one or more network functions,alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physical resourcescomprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storagehardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be used toexecute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

Generally, the application server 1230 may be an element offeringapplications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g.,UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 1230can also be configured to support one or more communication services(e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, socialnetworking services, etc.) for the UEs 1201 via the EPC 1220.

In embodiments, the CN 1220 may be a 5GC (referred to as “5GC 1220” orthe like), and the RAN 1210 may be connected with the CN 1220 via an NGinterface 1213. In embodiments, the NG interface 1213 may be split intotwo parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 1214, which carries trafficdata between the RAN nodes 1211 and a UPF, and the S1 control plane(NG-C) interface 1215, which is a signaling interface between the RANnodes 1211 and AMFs. Embodiments where the CN 1220 is a 5GC 1220 arediscussed in more detail with regard to FIG. 14.

In embodiments, the CN 1220 may be a 5G CN (referred to as 122U or thelike), while in other embodiments, the CN 1220 may be an EPC). Where CN1220 is an EPC (referred to as “EPC 1220” or the like), the RAN 1210 maybe connected with the CN 1220 via an S1 interface 1213. In embodiments,the S1 interface 1213 may be split into two parts, an S1 user plane(S1-U) interface 1214, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes1211 and the S-GW, and the S1-MME interface 1215, which is a signalinginterface between the RAN nodes 1211 and MMEs.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an architecture of a system 1300including a first CN 1320, according to some embodiments. In thisexample, system 1300 may implement the LTE standard wherein the CN 1320is an EPC 1320 that corresponds with CN 1220 of FIG. 12. Additionally,the UE 1301 may be the same or similar as the UEs 1201 of FIG. 12, andthe E-UTRAN 1310 may be a RAN that is the same or similar to the RAN1210 of FIG. 12, and which may include RAN nodes 1211 discussedpreviously. The CN 1320 may comprise MMEs 1321, an S-GW 1322, a P-GW1323, a HSS 1324, and a SGSN 1325.

The MMEs 1321 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacySGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the currentlocation of a UE 1301. The MMEs 1321 may perform various MM proceduresto manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection andtracking area list management. MM (also referred to as “EPS MM” or “EMM”in E-UTRAN systems) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods,data storage, etc. that are used to maintain knowledge about a presentlocation of the UE 1301, provide user identity confidentiality, and/orperform other like services to users/subscribers. Each UE 1301 and theMME 1321 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and an MM context may beestablished in the UE 1301 and the MME 1321 when an attach procedure issuccessfully completed. The MM context may be a data structure ordatabase object that stores MM-related information of the UE 1301. TheMMEs 1321 may be coupled with the HSS 1324 via an S6a reference point,coupled with the SGSN 1325 via an S3 reference point, and coupled withthe S-GW 1322 via an S11 reference point.

The SGSN 1325 may be a node that serves the UE 1301 by tracking thelocation of an individual UE 1301 and performing security functions. Inaddition, the SGSN 1325 may perform Inter-EPC node signaling formobility between 2G/3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GWselection as specified by the MMES 1321; handling of UE 1301 time zonefunctions as specified by the MMES 1321; and MME selection for handoversto E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between the MMES1321 and the SGSN 1325 may enable user and bearer information exchangefor inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle and/or active states.

The HSS 1324 may comprise a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The EPC 1320 may comprise one orseveral HSSs 1324, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 1324 can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 1324 and theMMES 1321 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication datafor authenticating/authorizing user access to the EPC 1320 between HSS1324 and the MMES 1321.

The S-GW 1322 may terminate the S1 interface 1213 (“S1-U” in FIG. 13)toward the RAN 1310, and routes data packets between the RAN 1310 andthe EPC 1320. In addition, the S-GW 1322 may be a local mobility anchorpoint for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor forinter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawfulintercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The S11 referencepoint between the S-GW 1322 and the MMES 1321 may provide a controlplane between the MMES 1321 and the S-GW 1322. The S-GW 1322 may becoupled with the P-GW 1323 via an S5 reference point.

The P-GW 1323 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN 1330. The P-GW1323 may route data packets between the EPC 1320 and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 1230 (alternativelyreferred to as an “AF”) via an IP interface 1225 (see e.g., FIG. 12). Inembodiments, the P-GW 1323 may be communicatively coupled to anapplication server (application server 1230 of FIG. 12 or PDN 1330 inFIG. 13) via an IP communications interface 1225 (see, e.g., FIG. 12).The S5 reference point between the P-GW 1323 and the S-GW 1322 mayprovide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 1323and the S-GW 1322. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 1322relocation due to UE 1301 mobility and if the S-GW 1322 needs to connectto a non-collocated P-GW 1323 for the required PDN connectivity. TheP-GW 1323 may further include a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGireference point between the P-GW 1323 and the packet data network (PDN)1330 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intraoperator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMSservices. The P-GW 1323 may be coupled with a PCRF 1326 via a Gxreference point.

PCRF 1326 is the policy and charging control element of the EPC 1320. Ina non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 1326 in the HomePublic Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE 1301's InternetProtocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roamingscenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFsassociated with a UE 1301's IP-CAN session, a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) withinan HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land MobileNetwork (VPLMN). The PCRF 1326 may be communicatively coupled to theapplication server 1330 via the P-GW 1323. The application server 1330may signal the PCRF 1326 to indicate a new service flow and select theappropriate QoS and charging parameters. The PCRF 1326 may provisionthis rule into a PCEF (not shown) with the appropriate TFT and QCI,which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the applicationserver 1330. The Gx reference point between the PCRF 1326 and the P-GW1323 may allow for the transfer of QoS policy and charging rules fromthe PCRF 1326 to PCEF in the P-GW 1323. An Rx reference point may residebetween the PDN 1330 (or “AF 1330”) and the PCRF 1326.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an architecture of a system 1400including a second CN 1420, according to some embodiments. The system1400 is shown to include a UE 1401, which may be the same or similar tothe UEs 1201 and UE 1301 discussed previously; a (R)AN 1410, which maybe the same or similar to the RAN 1210 and RAN 1310 discussedpreviously, and which may include RAN nodes 1211 discussed previously;and a DN 1403, which may be, for example, operator services, Internetaccess or 3rd party services; and a 5GC 1420. The 5GC 1420 may includean AUSF 1422; an AMF 1421; a SMF 1424; a NEF 1423; a PCF 1426; an NRF1425; an UDM 1427; an AF 1428; a UPF 1402; and a NSSF 1429.

The UPF 1402 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RATmobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to DN 1403, anda branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 1402 mayalso perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection,enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets(UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handlingfor a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rateenforcement), perform Uplink Traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flowmapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, andperform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notificationtriggering. UPF 1402 may include an uplink classifier to support routingtraffic flows to a data network. The DN 1403 may represent variousnetwork operator services, Internet access, or third party services. DN1403 may include, or be similar to, application server 1230 discussedpreviously. The UPF 1402 may interact with the SMF 1424 via an N4reference point between the SMF 1424 and the UPF 1402.

The AUSF 1422 may store data for authentication of UE 1401 and handleauthentication-related functionality. The AUSF 1422 may facilitate acommon authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 1422may communicate with the AMF 1421 via an N12 reference point between theAMF 1421 and the AUSF 1422; and may communicate with the UDM 1427 via anN13 reference point between the UDM 1427 and the AUSF 1422.Additionally, the AUSF 1422 may exhibit a Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 1421 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., forregistering UE 1401, etc.), connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-relatedevents, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 1421 may bea termination point for the an N11 reference point between the AMF 1421and the SMF 1424. The AMF 1421 may provide transport for SM messagesbetween the UE 1401 and the SMF 1424, and act as a transparent proxy forrouting SM messages. AMF 1421 may also provide transport for SMSmessages between UE 1401 and an SMSF (not shown by FIG. 14). AMF 1421may act as SEAF, which may include interaction with the AUSF 1422 andthe UE 1401, receipt of an intermediate key that was established as aresult of the UE 1401 authentication process. Where USIM basedauthentication is used, the AMF 1421 may retrieve the security materialfrom the AUSF 1422. AMF 1421 may also include a SCM function, whichreceives a key from the SEA that it uses to derive access-networkspecific keys. Furthermore, AMF 1421 may be a termination point of a RANCP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the(R)AN 1410 and the AMF 1421; and the AMF 1421 may be a termination pointof NAS (N1) signalling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrityprotection.

AMF 1421 may also support NAS signalling with a UE 1401 over an N3 IWFinterface. The N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrustedentities. N3IWF may be a termination point for the N2 interface betweenthe (R)AN 1410 and the AMF 1421 for the control plane, and may be atermination point for the N3 reference point between the (R)AN 1410 andthe UPF 1402 for the user plane. As such, the AMF 1421 may handle N2signalling from the SMF 1424 and the AMF 1421 for PDU sessions and QoS,encapsulate/de-encapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnelling, mark N3user-plane packets in the uplink, and enforce QoS corresponding to N3packet marking taking into account QoS requirements associated with suchmarking received over N2. N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlinkcontrol-plane NAS signalling between the UE 1401 and AMF 1421 via an N1reference point between the UE 1401 and the AMF 1421, and relay uplinkand downlink user-plane packets between the UE 1401 and UPF 1402. TheN3IWF also provides mechanisms for IPsec tunnel establishment with theUE 1401. The AMF 1421 may exhibit a Namf service-based interface, andmay be a termination point for an N14 reference point between two AMFs1421 and an N17 reference point between the AMF 1421 and a 5G-EIR (notshown by FIG. 14).

The UE 1401 may need to register with the AMF 1421 in order to receivenetwork services. RM is used to register or deregister the UE 1401 withthe network (e.g., AMF 1421), and establish a UE context in the network(e.g., AMF 1421). The UE 1401 may operate in an RM-REGISTERED state oran RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, the UE 1401 isnot registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 1421 holds novalid location or routing information for the UE 1401 so the UE 1401 isnot reachable by the AMF 1421. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 1401is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 1421 may holda valid location or routing information for the UE 1401 so the UE 1401is reachable by the AMF 1421. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 1401may perform mobility Registration Update procedures, perform periodicRegistration Update procedures triggered by expiration of the periodicupdate timer (e.g., to notify the network that the UE 1401 is stillactive), and perform a Registration Update procedure to update UEcapability information or to re-negotiate protocol parameters with thenetwork, among others.

The AMF 1421 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 1401, whereeach RM context is associated with a specific access to the network. TheRM context may be a data structure, database object, etc. that indicatesor stores, inter alia, a registration state per access type and theperiodic update timer. The AMF 1421 may also store a 5GC MM context thatmay be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. Invarious embodiments, the AMF 1421 may store a CE mode B Restrictionparameter of the UE 1401 in an associated MM context or RM context. TheAMF 1421 may also derive the value, when needed, from the UE's usagesetting parameter already stored in the UE context (and/or MM/RMcontext).

CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection betweenthe UE 1401 and the AMF 1421 over the N1 interface. The signalingconnection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 1401and the CN 1420, and comprises both the signaling connection between theUE and the AN (e.g., RRC connection or UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPPaccess) and the N2 connection for the UE 1401 between the AN (e.g., RAN1410) and the AMF 1421. The UE 1401 may operate in one of two CM states,CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode. When the UE 1401 is operating in theCM-IDLE state/mode, the UE 1401 may have no NAS signaling connectionestablished with the AMF 1421 over the N1 interface, and there may be(R)AN 1410 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for theUE 1401. When the UE 1401 is operating in the CM-CONNECTED state/mode,the UE 1401 may have an established NAS signaling connection with theAMF 1421 over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 1410 signalingconnection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for the UE 1401.Establishment of an N2 connection between the (R)AN 1410 and the AMF1421 may cause the UE 1401 to transition from CM-IDLE mode toCM-CONNECTED mode, and the UE 1401 may transition from the CM-CONNECTEDmode to the CM-IDLE mode when N2 signaling between the (R)AN 1410 andthe AMF 1421 is released.

The SMF 1424 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment,modify and release, including tunnel maintain between UPF and AN node);UE IP address allocation and management (including optionalauthorization); selection and control of UP function; configuringtraffic steering at UPF to route traffic to proper destination;termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controllingpart of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events andinterface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages;downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sentvia AMF over N2 to AN; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM mayrefer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” mayrefer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables theexchange of PDUs between a UE 1401 and a data network (DN) 1403identified by a Data Network Name (DNN). PDU sessions may be establishedupon UE 1401 request, modified upon UE 1401 and 5GC 1420 request, andreleased upon UE 1401 and 5GC 1420 request using NAS SM signalingexchanged over the N1 reference point between the UE 1401 and the SMF1424. Upon request from an application server, the 5GC 1420 may triggera specific application in the UE 1401. In response to receipt of thetrigger message, the UE 1401 may pass the trigger message (or relevantparts/information of the trigger message) to one or more identifiedapplications in the UE 1401. The identified application(s) in the UE1401 may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. The SMF 1424 maycheck whether the UE 1401 requests are compliant with user subscriptioninformation associated with the UE 1401. In this regard, the SMF 1424may retrieve and/or request to receive update notifications on SMF 1424level subscription data from the UDM 1427.

The SMF 1424 may include the following roaming functionality: handlinglocal enforcement to apply QoS SLAB (VPLMN); charging data collectionand charging interface (VPLMN); lawful intercept (in VPLMN for SM eventsand interface to LI system); and support for interaction with externalDN for transport of signalling for PDU sessionauthorization/authentication by external DN. An N16 reference pointbetween two SMFs 1424 may be included in the system 1400, which may bebetween another SMF 1424 in a visited network and the SMF 1424 in thehome network in roaming scenarios. Additionally, the SMF 1424 mayexhibit the Nsmf service-based interface.

The NEF 1423 may provide means for securely exposing the services andcapabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party,internal exposure/re-exposure, Application Functions (e.g., AF 1428),edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, theNEF 1423 may authenticate, authorize, and/or throttle the AFs. NEF 1423may also translate information exchanged with the AF 1428 andinformation exchanged with internal network functions. For example, theNEF 1423 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal5GC information. NEF 1423 may also receive information from othernetwork functions (NFs) based on exposed capabilities of other networkfunctions. This information may be stored at the NEF 1423 as structureddata, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The storedinformation can then be re-exposed by the NEF 1423 to other NFs and AFs,and/or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF1423 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 1425 may support service discovery functions, receive NFdiscovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of thediscovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 1425 also maintainsinformation of available NF instances and their supported services. Asused herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like mayrefer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 1425 may exhibit theNnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 1426 may provide policy rules to control plane function(s) toenforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to governnetwork behaviour. The PCF 1426 may also implement an FE to accesssubscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of theUDM 1427. The PCF 1426 may communicate with the AMF 1421 via an N15reference point between the PCF 1426 and the AMF 1421, which may includea PCF 1426 in a visited network and the AMF 1421 in case of roamingscenarios. The PCF 1426 may communicate with the AF 1428 via an N5reference point between the PCF 1426 and the AF 1428; and with the SMF1424 via an N7 reference point between the PCF 1426 and the SMF 1424.The system 1400 and/or CN 1420 may also include an N24 reference pointbetween the PCF 1426 (in the home network) and a PCF 1426 in a visitednetwork. Additionally, the PCF 1426 may exhibit an Npcf service-basedinterface.

The UDM 1427 may handle subscription-related information to support thenetwork entities' handling of communication sessions, and may storesubscription data of UE 1401. For example, subscription data may becommunicated between the UDM 1427 and the AMF 1421 via an N8 referencepoint between the UDM 1427 and the AMF. The UDM 1427 may include twoparts, an application FE and a UDR (the FE and UDR are not shown by FIG.14). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM1427 and the PCF 1426, and/or structured data for exposure andapplication data (including PFDs for application detection, applicationrequest information for multiple UEs 1401) for the NEF 1423. The Nudrservice-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM1427, PCF 1426, and NEF 1423 to access a particular set of the storeddata, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, andsubscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDMmay include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials,location management, subscription management and so on. Severaldifferent front ends may serve the same user in different transactions.The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR andperforms authentication credential processing, user identificationhandling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, andsubscription management. The UDR may interact with the SMF 1424 via anN10 reference point between the UDM 1427 and the SMF 1424. UDM 1427 mayalso support SMS management, wherein an SMS-FE implements the similarapplication logic as discussed previously. Additionally, the UDM 1427may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 1428 may provide application influence on traffic routing,provide access to the NCE, and interact with the policy framework forpolicy control. The NCE may be a mechanism that allows the 5GC 1420 andAF 1428 to provide information to each other via NEF 1423, which may beused for edge computing implementations. In such implementations, thenetwork operator and third party services may be hosted close to the UE1401 access point of attachment to achieve an efficient service deliverythrough the reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transportnetwork. For edge computing implementations, the 5GC may select a UPF1402 close to the UE 1401 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 1402to DN 1403 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UEsubscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 1428.In this way, the AF 1428 may influence UPF (re)selection and trafficrouting. Based on operator deployment, when AF 1428 is considered to bea trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 1428 to interactdirectly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 1428 may exhibit a Nafservice-based interface.

The NSSF 1429 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE1401. The NSSF 1429 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping tothe subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 1429 may also determine theAMF set to be used to serve the UE 1401, or a list of candidate AMF(s)1421 based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF1425. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 1401may be triggered by the AMF 1421 with which the UE 1401 is registered byinteracting with the NSSF 1429, which may lead to a change of AMF 1421.The NSSF 1429 may interact with the AMF 1421 via an N22 reference pointbetween AMF 1421 and NSSF 1429; and may communicate with another NSSF1429 in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown by FIG.14). Additionally, the NSSF 1429 may exhibit an Nnssf service-basedinterface.

As discussed previously, the CN 1420 may include an SMSF, which may beresponsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relayingSM messages to/from the UE 1401 to/from other entities, such as anSMS-GMSC/IWMSC/SMS-router. The SMS may also interact with AMF 1421 andUDM 1427 for a notification procedure that the UE 1401 is available forSMS transfer (e.g., set a UE not reachable flag, and notifying UDM 1427when UE 1401 is available for SMS).

The CN 1420 may also include other elements that are not shown by FIG.14, such as a Data Storage system/architecture, a 5G-EIR, a SEPP, andthe like. The Data Storage system may include a SDSF, an UDSF, and/orthe like. Any NF may store and retrieve unstructured data into/from theUDSF (e.g., UE contexts), via N18 reference point between any NF and theUDSF (not shown by FIG. 14). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storingtheir respective unstructured data or individual NFs may each have theirown UDSF located at or near the individual NFs. Additionally, the UDSFmay exhibit an Nudsf service-based interface (not shown by FIG. 14). The5G-EIR may be an NF that checks the status of PEI for determiningwhether particular equipment/entities are blacklisted from the network;and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topologyhiding, message filtering, and policing on inter-PLMN control planeinterfaces.

Additionally, there may be many more reference points and/orservice-based interfaces between the NF services in the NFs; however,these interfaces and reference points have been omitted from FIG. 14 forclarity. In one example, the CN 1420 may include an Nx interface, whichis an inter-CN interface between the MME (e.g., MME 1321) and the AMF1421 in order to enable interworking between CN 1420 and CN 1320. Otherexample interfaces/reference points may include an N5g-EIR service-basedinterface exhibited by a 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between the NRFin the visited network and the NRF in the home network; and an N31reference point between the NSSF in the visited network and the NSSF inthe home network.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 1500,according to some embodiments. The infrastructure equipment 1500 (or“system 1500”) may be implemented as a base station, radio head, RANnode such as the RAN nodes 1211 and/or AP 1206 shown and describedpreviously, application server(s) 1230, and/or any other element/devicediscussed herein. In other examples, the system 1500 could beimplemented in or by a UE.

The system 1500 includes application circuitry 1505, baseband circuitry1510, one or more radio front end modules (RFEMs) 1515, memory circuitry1520, power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 1525, power teecircuitry 1530, network controller circuitry 1535, network interfaceconnector 1540, satellite positioning circuitry 1545, and user interface1550. In some embodiments, the device 1500 may include additionalelements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor,or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the componentsdescribed below may be included in more than one device. For example,said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device forCRAN, vBBU, or other like implementations.

Application circuitry 1505 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as SPI, I²C or universal programmable serialinterface module, real time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general purpose input/output (I/O or 10),memory card controllers such as Secure Digital (SD) MultiMediaCard (MMC)or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Mobile IndustryProcessor Interface (MIPI) interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG)test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 1505 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 1500. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 1505 may include, for example,one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors,one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISCMachine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing(CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSP), one ormore FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or moremicroprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. Insome embodiments, the application circuitry 1505 may comprise, or maybe, a special-purpose processor/controller to operate according to thevarious embodiments herein. As examples, the processor(s) of applicationcircuitry 1505 may include one or more Apple® A-series processors, IntelPentium®, Core®, or Xeon® processor(s); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)Ryzen® processor(s), Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc®processors; ARM-based processor(s) licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd.,such as the ARM Cortex-A family of processors and the ThunderX2®provided by Cavium™, Inc.; a MIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies,Inc., such as MIPS Warrior P-class processors; and/or the like. In someembodiments, the system 1500 may not utilize application circuitry 1505,and instead may include a special-purpose processor/controller toprocess IP data received from an EPC or 5GC, for example.

In some implementations, the application circuitry 1505 may include oneor more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors,programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardwareaccelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deeplearning (DL) accelerators. As examples, the programmable processingdevices may be one or more a field-programmable devices (FPDs) such asfield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the like; programmable logicdevices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs(HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like;programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, thecircuitry of application circuitry 1505 may comprise logic blocks orlogic fabric, and other interconnected resources that may be programmedto perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods,functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In suchembodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 1505 may includememory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM),anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc.in look-up-tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 1510 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 1510 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 17.

User interface circuitry 1550 may include one or more user interfacesdesigned to enable user interaction with the system 1500 or peripheralcomponent interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interactionwith the system 1500. User interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), oneor more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physicalkeyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, speakers orother audio emitting devices, microphones, a printer, a scanner, aheadset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral componentinterfaces may include, but are not limited to, a nonvolatile memoryport, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 1515 may comprise a millimeter wave(mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-mmWaveRFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs mayinclude connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g.,antenna array 1711 of FIG. 17 infra), and the RFEM may be connected tomultiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave andsub-mmWave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical RFEM1515, which incorporates both mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 1520 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®. Memory circuitry 1520 may be implemented as one or more ofsolder down packaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules andplug-in memory cards.

The PMIC 1525 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, poweralarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such asa battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuitry may detectone or more of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage)conditions. The power tee circuitry 1530 may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the infrastructure equipment 1500 using a single cable.

The network controller circuitry 1535 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet,Ethernet over GRE Tunnels, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may beprovided to/from the infrastructure equipment 1500 via network interfaceconnector 1540 using a physical connection, which may be electrical(commonly referred to as a “copper interconnect”), optical, or wireless.The network controller circuitry 1535 may include one or more dedicatedprocessors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of theaforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the networkcontroller circuitry 1535 may include multiple controllers to provideconnectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 1545 includes circuitry to receive and decodesignals transmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satelliteconstellations (or GNSS) include United States' Global PositioningSystem (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the EuropeanUnion's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, aregional navigation system or GNSS augmentation system (e.g., Navigationwith Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System(QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integratedby Satellite (DORIS), etc.), or the like. The positioning circuitry 1545comprises various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devicessuch as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like tofacilitate OTA communications) to communicate with components of apositioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes.In some embodiments, the positioning circuitry 1545 may include aMicro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) ICthat uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking/estimationwithout GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 1545 may also be partof, or interact with, the baseband circuitry 1510 and/or RFEMs 1515 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 1545 may also provide position data and/ortime data to the application circuitry 1505, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN nodes1211, etc.), or the like.

The components shown by FIG. 15 may communicate with one another usinginterface circuitry, which may include any number of bus and/orinterconnect (IX) technologies such as industry standard architecture(ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI),peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe),or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietarybus, for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems maybe included, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point to pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a platform 1600 (or “device 1600”),according to some embodiments. In embodiments, the computer platform1600 may be suitable for use as UEs 1201, 1301, 1401, applicationservers 1230, and/or any other element/device discussed herein. Theplatform 1600 may include any combinations of the components shown inthe example. The components of platform 1600 may be implemented asintegrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronicdevices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof adapted in the computer platform 1600, or ascomponents otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system.The block diagram of FIG. 16 is intended to show a high level view ofcomponents of the computer platform 1600. However, some of thecomponents shown may be omitted, additional components may be present,and different arrangement of the components shown may occur in otherimplementations.

Application circuitry 1605 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I²Cor universal programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer-countersincluding interval and watchdog timers, general purpose I/O, memory cardcontrollers such as SD MMC or similar, USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces,and JTAG test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 1605 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 1600. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 1505 may include, for example,one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one ormore GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, oneor more CISC processors, one or more DSP, one or more FPGAs, one or morePLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, amultithreaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embeddedprocessor, some other known processing element, or any suitablecombination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuitry 1505may comprise, or may be, a special-purpose processor/controller tooperate according to the various embodiments herein.

As examples, the processor(s) of application circuitry 1605 may includean A-series processor(s) from Apple® Inc. Cupertino, Calif. Theprocessors of the application circuitry 1605 may also be one or more ofan Intel® Architecture Core™ based processor, such as a Quark™, anAtom™, an i3, an i5, an i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another suchprocessor available from Intel® Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif.,Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s) or AcceleratedProcessing Units (APUs), Snapdragon™ processor(s) from Qualcomm®Technologies, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc.® Open MultimediaApplications Platform (OMAP)™ processor(s); a MIPS-based design fromMIPS Technologies, Inc., such as MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class,and Warrior P-class processors; an ARM-based design licensed from ARMHoldings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M familyof processors; or the like. In some implementations, the applicationcircuitry 1605 may be a part of a system on a chip (SoC) in which theapplication circuitry 1605 and other components are formed into a singleintegrated circuit, or a single package, such as the Edison™ or Galileo™SoC boards from Intel® Corporation.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 1605 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more a field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as FPGAs and the like; programmable logic devices(PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), andthe like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable SoCs(PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of applicationcircuitry 1605 may comprise logic blocks or logic fabric, and otherinterconnected resources that may be programmed to perform variousfunctions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, etc. of thevarious embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitryof application circuitry 1605 may include memory cells (e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory(e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuses, etc.)) used tostore logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc. in look-up tables (LUTs)and the like.

The baseband circuitry 1610 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 1610 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 17.

The RFEMs 1615 may comprise a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one ormore sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In someimplementations, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physicallyseparated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to oneor more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g., antenna array 1711 of FIG.17 infra), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. Inalternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-mmWave radio functionsmay be implemented in the same physical RFEM 1615, which incorporatesboth mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 1620 may include any number and type of memorydevices used to provide for a given amount of system memory. Asexamples, the memory circuitry 1620 may include one or more of volatilememory including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and/orsynchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuitry 1620 may bedeveloped in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices EngineeringCouncil (JEDEC) low power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such asLPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, or the like. Memory circuitry 1620 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,single die package (SDP), dual die package (DDP) or quad die package(Q17P), socketed memory modules, dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)including microDIMMs or MiniDIMMs, and/or soldered onto a motherboardvia a ball grid array (BGA). In low power implementations, the memorycircuitry 1620 may be on-die memory or registers associated with theapplication circuitry 1605. To provide for persistent storage ofinformation such as data, applications, operating systems and so forth,memory circuitry 1620 may include one or more mass storage devices,which may include, inter alia, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), harddisk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, resistance change memories, phase changememories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, among others. Forexample, the computer platform 1600 may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®.

Removable memory circuitry 1623 may include devices, circuitry,enclosures/housings, ports or receptacles, etc. used to couple portabledata storage devices with the platform 1600. These portable data storagedevices may be used for mass storage purposes, and may include, forexample, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSDcards, xD picture cards, and the like), and USB flash drives, opticaldiscs, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 1600 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) thatis used to connect external devices with the platform 1600. The externaldevices connected to the platform 1600 via the interface circuitryinclude sensor circuitry 1621 and electro-mechanical components (EMCs)1622, as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memorycircuitry 1623.

The sensor circuitry 1621 include devices, modules, or subsystems whosepurpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send theinformation (sensor data) about the detected events to some other adevice, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, interalia, inertia measurement units (IMUS) comprising accelerometers,gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) comprising 3-axisaccelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; level sensors;flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors;barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capturedevices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures); light detection andranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiationdetector and the like), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonictransceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc.

EMCs 1622 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is toenable platform 1600 to change its state, position, and/or orientation,or move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Additionally, EMCs 1622may be configured to generate and send messages/signalling to othercomponents of the platform 1600 to indicate a current state of the EMCs1622. Examples of the EMCs 1622 include one or more power switches,relays including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and/or solid staterelays (SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), an audible soundgenerator, a visual warning device, motors (e.g., DC motors, steppermotors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks,and/or other like electro-mechanical components. In embodiments,platform 1600 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 1622 based onone or more captured events and/or instructions or control signalsreceived from a service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 1600 with positioning circuitry 1645. The positioning circuitry1645 includes circuitry to receive and decode signalstransmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a GNSS. Examples ofnavigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include United States'GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China'sBeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a regional navigation system or GNSSaugmentation system (e.g., NAVIC), Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.),or the like. The positioning circuitry 1645 comprises various hardwareelements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters,amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like to facilitate OTAcommunications) to communicate with components of a positioning network,such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments,the positioning circuitry 1645 may include a Micro-PNT IC that uses amaster timing clock to perform position tracking/estimation without GNSSassistance. The positioning circuitry 1645 may also be part of, orinteract with, the baseband circuitry 1510 and/or RFEMs 1615 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 1645 may also provide position data and/ortime data to the application circuitry 1605, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., radio basestations), for turn-by-turn navigation applications, or the like.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 1600 with Near-Field Communication (NFC) circuitry 1640. NFCcircuitry 1640 is configured to provide contactless, short-rangecommunications based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards,wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication betweenNFC circuitry 1640 and NFC-enabled devices external to the platform 1600(e.g., an “NFC touchpoint”). NFC circuitry 1640 comprises an NFCcontroller coupled with an antenna element and a processor coupled withthe NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip/IC providing NFCfunctionalities to the NFC circuitry 1640 by executing NFC controllerfirmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by theprocessor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmwaremay be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element toemit short-range RF signals. The RF signals may power a passive NFC tag(e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmitstored data to the NFC circuitry 1640, or initiate data transfer betweenthe NFC circuitry 1640 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphoneor an NFC-enabled POS terminal) that is proximate to the platform 1600.

The driver circuitry 1646 may include software and hardware elementsthat operate to control particular devices that are embedded in theplatform 1600, attached to the platform 1600, or otherwisecommunicatively coupled with the platform 1600. The driver circuitry1646 may include individual drivers allowing other components of theplatform 1600 to interact with or control various input/output (I/O)devices that may be present within, or connected to, the platform 1600.For example, driver circuitry 1646 may include a display driver tocontrol and allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver tocontrol and allow access to a touchscreen interface of the platform1600, sensor drivers to obtain sensor readings of sensor circuitry 1621and control and allow access to sensor circuitry 1621, EMC drivers toobtain actuator positions of the EMCs 1622 and/or control and allowaccess to the EMCs 1622, a camera driver to control and allow access toan embedded image capture device, audio drivers to control and allowaccess to one or more audio devices.

The power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 1625 (also referred toas “power management circuitry 1625”) may manage power provided tovarious components of the platform 1600. In particular, with respect tothe baseband circuitry 1610, the PMIC 1625 may control power-sourceselection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.The PMIC 1625 may often be included when the platform 1600 is capable ofbeing powered by a battery 1630, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE 1201, 1301, 1401.

In some embodiments, the PMIC 1625 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1600. For example, ifthe platform 1600 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is stillconnected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, thenit may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after aperiod of inactivity. During this state, the platform 1600 may powerdown for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If there is nodata traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the platform1600 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects fromthe network and does not perform operations such as channel qualityfeedback, handover, etc. The platform 1600 goes into a very low powerstate and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up tolisten to the network and then powers down again. The platform 1600 maynot receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state. An additional power saving modemay allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longerthan a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). Duringthis time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and maypower down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a largedelay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

A battery 1630 may power the platform 1600, although in some examplesthe platform 1600 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location, and mayhave a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 1630 maybe a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-airbattery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like.In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 1630may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 1630 may be a “smart battery,”which includes or is coupled with a Battery Management System (BMS) orbattery monitoring integrated circuitry. The BMS may be included in theplatform 1600 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1630.The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1630 toprovide failure predictions, such as the state of health (SoH) and thestate of function (SoF) of the battery 1630. The BMS may communicate theinformation of the battery 1630 to the application circuitry 1605 orother components of the platform 1600. The BMS may also include ananalog-to-digital (ADC) convertor that allows the application circuitry1605 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1630 or the currentflow from the battery 1630. The battery parameters may be used todetermine actions that the platform 1600 may perform, such astransmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and thelike.

A power block, or other power supply coupled to an electrical grid maybe coupled with the BMS to charge the battery 1630. In some examples,the power block 1630 may be replaced with a wireless power receiver toobtain the power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in thecomputer platform 1600. In these examples, a wireless battery chargingcircuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitschosen may depend on the size of the battery 1630, and thus, the currentrequired. The charging may be performed using the Airfuel standardpromulgated by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standardpromulgated by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence chargingstandard promulgated by the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

User interface circuitry 1650 includes various input/output (I/O)devices present within, or connected to, the platform 1600, and includesone or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with theplatform 1600 and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enableperipheral component interaction with the platform 1600. The userinterface circuitry 1650 includes input device circuitry and outputdevice circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or morephysical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard,keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset,and/or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for showing information or otherwise conveyinginformation, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or otherlike information. Output device circuitry may include any number and/orcombinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one ormore simple visual outputs/indicators (e.g., binary status indicators(e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs,or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g.,Liquid Chrystal Displays (LCD), LED displays, quantum dot displays,projectors, etc.), with the output of characters, graphics, multimediaobjects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation ofthe platform 1600. The output device circuitry may also include speakersor other audio emitting devices, printer(s), and/or the like. In someembodiments, the sensor circuitry 1621 may be used as the input devicecircuitry (e.g., an image capture device, motion capture device, or thelike) and one or more EMCs may be used as the output device circuitry(e.g., an actuator to provide haptic feedback or the like). In anotherexample, NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller coupled with anantenna element and a processing device may be included to readelectronic tags and/or connect with another NFC-enabled device.Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, anon-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

Although not shown, the components of platform 1600 may communicate withone another using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, whichmay include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx,PCIe, a Time-Trigger Protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or anynumber of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus/IX,for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems may beincluded, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point-to-pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a components of baseband circuitry1710 and radio front end modules (RFEM) 1715, according to someembodiments. The baseband circuitry 1710 corresponds to the basebandcircuitry 1510 and 1610 of FIGS. 15 and 16, respectively. The RFEM 1715corresponds to the RFEM 1515 and 1615 of FIGS. 15 and 16, respectively.As shown, the RFEMs 1715 may include Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry1706, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1708, antenna array 1711 coupledtogether at least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 1710 includes circuitry and/or control logicconfigured to carry out various radio/network protocol and radio controlfunctions that enable communication with one or more radio networks viathe RF circuitry 1706. The radio control functions may include, but arenot limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 1710 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 1710 may include convolution, tail-bitingconvolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulationand encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples andmay include other suitable functionality in other embodiments. Thebaseband circuitry 1710 is configured to process baseband signalsreceived from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1706 and togenerate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry1706. The baseband circuitry 1710 is configured to interface withapplication circuitry 1505/1605 (see FIGS. 15 and 16) for generation andprocessing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of theRF circuitry 1706. The baseband circuitry 1710 may handle various radiocontrol functions.

The aforementioned circuitry and/or control logic of the basebandcircuitry 1710 may include one or more single or multi-core processors.For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G basebandprocessor 1704A, a 4G/LTE baseband processor 1704B, a 5G/NR basebandprocessor 1704C, or some other baseband processor(s) 1704D for otherexisting generations, generations in development or to be developed inthe future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments,some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 1704A-D may beincluded in modules stored in the memory 1704G and executed via aCentral Processing Unit (CPU) 1704E. In other embodiments, some or allof the functionality of baseband processors 1704A-D may be provided ashardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs, ASICs, etc.) loaded with theappropriate bit streams or logic blocks stored in respective memorycells. In various embodiments, the memory 1704G may store program codeof a real-time OS (RTOS), which when executed by the CPU 1704E (or otherbaseband processor), is to cause the CPU 1704E (or other basebandprocessor) to manage resources of the baseband circuitry 1710, scheduletasks, etc. Examples of the RTOS may include Operating System Embedded(OSE)™ provided by Enea®, Nucleus RTOS™ provided by Mentor Graphics®,Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Mentor Graphics®,ThreadX™ provided by Express Logic®, FreeRTOS, REX OS provided byQualcomm®, OKL4 provided by Open Kernel (OK) Labs®, or any othersuitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the basebandcircuitry 1710 includes one or more audio digital signal processor(s)(DSP) 1704F. The audio DSP(s) 1704F include elements forcompression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include othersuitable processing elements in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, each of the processors 1704A-1704E includerespective memory interfaces to send/receive data to/from the memory1704G. The baseband circuitry 1710 may further include one or moreinterfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, suchas an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to thebaseband circuitry 1710; an application circuitry interface tosend/receive data to/from the application circuitry 1505/1605 of FIGS.15-17); an RF circuitry interface to send/receive data to/from RFcircuitry 1706 of FIG. 17; a wireless hardware connectivity interface tosend/receive data to/from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g.,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® LowEnergy components, Wi-Fi® components, and/or the like); and a powermanagement interface to send/receive power or control signals to/fromthe PMIC 1625.

In alternate embodiments (which may be combined with the above describedembodiments), baseband circuitry 1710 comprises one or more digitalbaseband systems, which are coupled with one another via an interconnectsubsystem and to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interfacesubsystem. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to adigital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem viaanother interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems mayinclude a bus system, point-to-point connections, network-on-chip (NOC)structures, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology,such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSPcircuitry, buffer memory, program memory, speech processing acceleratorcircuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital anddigital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one ormore of amplifiers and filters, and/or other like components. In anaspect of the present disclosure, baseband circuitry 1710 may includeprotocol processing circuitry with one or more instances of controlcircuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digitalbaseband circuitry and/or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., the radiofront end modules 1715).

Although not shown by FIG. 17, in some embodiments, the basebandcircuitry 1710 includes individual processing device(s) to operate oneor more wireless communication protocols (e.g., a “multi-protocolbaseband processor” or “protocol processing circuitry”) and individualprocessing device(s) to implement PHY layer functions. In theseembodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radiocontrol functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processingcircuitry operates or implements various protocol layers/entities of oneor more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, theprotocol processing circuitry may operate LTE protocol entities and/or5G/NR protocol entities when the baseband circuitry 1710 and/or RFcircuitry 1706 are part of mmWave communication circuitry or some othersuitable cellular communication circuitry. In the first example, theprotocol processing circuitry would operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC,and NAS functions. In a second example, the protocol processingcircuitry may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols when the basebandcircuitry 1710 and/or RF circuitry 1706 are part of a Wi-Ficommunication system. In the second example, the protocol processingcircuitry would operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC)functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or morememory structures (e.g., 1704G) to store program code and data foroperating the protocol functions, as well as one or more processingcores to execute the program code and perform various operations usingthe data. The baseband circuitry 1710 may also support radiocommunications for more than one wireless protocol.

The various hardware elements of the baseband circuitry 1710 discussedherein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-down substrateincluding one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged ICsoldered to a main circuit board or a multi-chip module containing twoor more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuitry1710 may be suitably combined in a single chip or chipset, or disposedon a same circuit board. In another example, some or all of theconstituent components of the baseband circuitry 1710 and RF circuitry1706 may be implemented together such as, for example, a system on achip (SoC) or System-in-Package (SiP). In another example, some or allof the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1710 may beimplemented as a separate SoC that is communicatively coupled with andRF circuitry 1706 (or multiple instances of RF circuitry 1706). In yetanother example, some or all of the constituent components of thebaseband circuitry 1710 and the application circuitry 1505/1605 may beimplemented together as individual SoCs mounted to a same circuit board(e.g., a “multi-chip package”).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1710 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1710 may supportcommunication with an E-UTRAN or other WMAN, a WLAN, a WPAN. Embodimentsin which the baseband circuitry 1710 is configured to support radiocommunications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to asmulti-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 1706 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 1706 may include switches,filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with thewireless network. RF circuitry 1706 may include a receive signal path,which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 1708 and provide baseband signals to the basebandcircuitry 1710. RF circuitry 1706 may also include a transmit signalpath, which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signalsprovided by the baseband circuitry 1710 and provide RF output signals tothe FEM circuitry 1708 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1706may include mixer circuitry 1706A, amplifier circuitry 1706B and filtercircuitry 1706C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 1706 may include filter circuitry 1706C and mixer circuitry1706A. RF circuitry 1706 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1706Dfor synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1706A of thereceive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 1706A of the receive signal path may be configuredto down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1708 based onthe synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1706D. Theamplifier circuitry 1706B may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1706C may be a low-passfilter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwantedsignals from the down-converted signals to generate output basebandsignals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the basebandcircuitry 1710 for further processing. In some embodiments, the outputbaseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although thisis not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1706A of thereceive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1706A of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1706D togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1708. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1710 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 1706C.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1706A of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 1706A of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 1706A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry1706A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and maybe arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 1706A of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 1706A of the transmit signal path may be arrangedfor direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 1706A of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 1706A of the transmit signal path may be configuredfor super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 1706 may include analog-to-digital converter (AUL) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry1710 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 1706.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1706D may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 1706D may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 1706D may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1706A of the RFcircuitry 1706 based on a frequency input and a divider control input.In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1706D may be a fractionalN/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1710 orthe application circuitry 1505/1605 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplication circuitry 1505/1605.

Synthesizer circuitry 1706D of the RF circuitry 1706 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1706D may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 1706 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 1708 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antennaarray 1711, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1706 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 1708 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 1706 for transmission by oneor more of antenna elements of antenna array 1711. In variousembodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signalpaths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 1706, solely in the FEMcircuitry 1708, or in both the RF circuitry 1706 and the FEM circuitry1708.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1708 may include a TX/RX switchto switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 1708 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1708 may include anLNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1706). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 1708 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1706), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmissionby one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 1711.

The antenna array 1711 comprises one or more antenna elements, each ofwhich is configured convert electrical signals into radio waves totravel through the air and to convert received radio waves intoelectrical signals. For example, digital baseband signals provided bythe baseband circuitry 1710 is converted into analog RF signals (e.g.,modulated waveform) that will be amplified and transmitted via theantenna elements of the antenna array 1711 including one or more antennaelements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional,direction, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formedin a multitude of arranges as are known and/or discussed herein. Theantenna array 1711 may comprise microstrip antennas or printed antennasthat are fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuitboards. The antenna array 1711 may be formed in as a patch of metal foil(e.g., a patch antenna) in a variety of shapes, and may be coupled withthe RF circuitry 1706 and/or FEM circuitry 1708 using metal transmissionlines or the like.

Processors of the application circuitry 1505/1605 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 1710 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 1710, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 1505/1605 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received fromthese layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., TCP andUDP layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a RRC layer,described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 maycomprise a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, described infurther detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a PHYlayer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of protocol functions that may beimplemented in a wireless communication device, according to someembodiments. FIG. 18 illustrates various protocol functions that may beimplemented in a wireless communication device according to variousembodiments. In particular, FIG. 18 includes an arrangement 1800 showinginterconnections between various protocol layers/entities. The followingdescription of FIG. 18 is provided for various protocol layers/entitiesthat operate in conjunction with the 5G/NR system standards and LTEsystem standards, but some or all of the aspects of FIG. 18 may beapplicable to other wireless communication network systems as well.

The protocol layers of arrangement 1800 may include one or more of PHY1810, MAC 1820, RLC 1830, PDCP 1840, SDAP 1847, RRC 1855, and NAS layer1857, in addition to other higher layer functions not illustrated. Theprotocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g.,items 1859, 1856, 1850, 1849, 1845, 1835, 1825, and 1815 in FIG. 18)that may provide communication between two or more protocol layers.

The PHY 1810 may transmit and receive physical layer signals 1805 thatmay be received from or transmitted to one or more other communicationdevices. The physical layer signals 1805 may comprise one or morephysical channels, such as those discussed herein. The PHY 1810 mayfurther perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC),power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization andhandover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, suchas the RRC 1855. The PHY 1810 may still further perform error detectionon the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulation ofphysical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physicalchannels, and MIMO antenna processing. In embodiments, an instance ofPHY 1810 may process requests from and provide indications to aninstance of MAC 1820 via one or more PHY-SAP 1815. According to someembodiments, requests and indications communicated via PHY-SAP 1815 maycomprise one or more transport channels.

Instance(s) of MAC 1820 may process requests from, and provideindications to, an instance of RLC 1830 via one or more MAC-SAPs 1825.These requests and indications communicated via the MAC-SAP 1825 maycomprise one or more logical channels. The MAC 1820 may perform mappingbetween the logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MACSDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY1810 via the transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or morelogical channels from TBs delivered from the PHY 1810 via transportchannels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling informationreporting, error correction through HARQ, and logical channelprioritization.

Instance(s) of RLC 1830 may process requests from and provideindications to an instance of PDCP 1840 via one or more radio linkcontrol service access points (RLC-SAP) 1835. These requests andindications communicated via RLC-SAP 1835 may comprise one or more RLCchannels. The RLC 1830 may operate in a plurality of modes of operation,including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), andAcknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC 1830 may execute transfer of upper layerprotocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation, segmentation andreassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers. The RLC 1830 mayalso execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transfers,reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect duplicatedata for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM datatransfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers, and perform RLCre-establishment.

Instance(s) of PDCP 1840 may process requests from and provideindications to instance(s) of RRC 1855 and/or instance(s) of SDAP 1847via one or more packet data convergence protocol service access points(PDCP-SAP) 1845. These requests and indications communicated viaPDCP-SAP 1845 may comprise one or more radio bearers. The PDCP 1840 mayexecute header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCPSequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUsat re-establishment of lower layers, eliminate duplicates of lower layerSDUs at re-establishment of lower layers for radio bearers mapped on RLCAM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protectionand integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-baseddiscard of data, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering,deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

Instance(s) of SDAP 1847 may process requests from and provideindications to one or more higher layer protocol entities via one ormore SDAP-SAP 1849. These requests and indications communicated viaSDAP-SAP 1849 may comprise one or more QoS flows. The SDAP 1847 may mapQoS flows to DRBs, and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and ULpackets. A single SDAP entity 1847 may be configured for an individualPDU session. In the UL direction, the NG-RAN 1210 may control themapping of QoS Flows to DRB(s) in two different ways, reflective mappingor explicit mapping. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 1847 of a UE 1201may monitor the QFIs of the DL packets for each DRB, and may apply thesame mapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For a DRB, theSDAP 1847 of the UE 1201 may map the UL packets belonging to the QoSflows(s) corresponding to the QoS flow ID(s) and PDU session observed inthe DL packets for that DRB. To enable reflective mapping, the NG-RAN1410 may mark DL packets over the Uu interface with a QoS flow ID. Theexplicit mapping may involve the RRC 1855 configuring the SDAP 1847 withan explicit QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, which may be stored andfollowed by the SDAP 1847. In embodiments, the SDAP 1847 may only beused in NR implementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

The RRC 1855 may configure, via one or more management service accesspoints (M-SAP), aspects of one or more protocol layers, which mayinclude one or more instances of PHY 1810, MAC 1820, RLC 1830, PDCP 1840and SDAP 1847. In embodiments, an instance of RRC 1855 may processrequests from and provide indications to one or more NAS entities 1857via one or more RRC-SAPs 1856. The main services and functions of theRRC 1855 may include broadcast of system information (e.g., included inMIBs or SIBs related to the NAS), broadcast of system informationrelated to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenanceand release of an RRC connection between the UE 1201 and RAN 1210 (e.g.,RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connectionmodification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration,maintenance and release of point to point Radio Bearers, securityfunctions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurementconfiguration for UE measurement reporting. The MIBs and SIBs maycomprise one or more IEs, which may each comprise individual data fieldsor data structures.

The NAS 1857 may form the highest stratum of the control plane betweenthe UE 1201 and the AMF 1421. The NAS 1857 may support the mobility ofthe UEs 1201 and the session management procedures to establish andmaintain IP connectivity between the UE 1201 and a P-GW in LTE systems.

According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities ofarrangement 1800 may be implemented in UEs 1201, RAN nodes 1211, AMF1421 in NR implementations or MME 1321 in LTE implementations, UPF 1402in NR implementations or S-GW 1322 and P-GW 1323 in LTE implementations,or the like to be used for control plane or user plane communicationsprotocol stack between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments,one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more ofUE 1201, gNB 1211, AMF 1421, etc. may communicate with a respective peerprotocol entity that may be implemented in or on another device usingthe services of respective lower layer protocol entities to perform suchcommunication. In some embodiments, a gNB-CU of the gNB 1211 may hostthe RRC 1855, SDAP 1847, and PDCP 1840 of the gNB that controls theoperation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of the gNB 1211 mayeach host the RLC 1830, MAC 1820, and PHY 1810 of the gNB 1211.

In a first example, a control plane protocol stack may comprise, inorder from highest layer to lowest layer, NAS 1857, RRC 1855, PDCP 1840,RLC 1830, MAC 1820, and PHY 1810. In this example, upper layers 1860 maybe built on top of the NAS 1857, which includes an IP layer 1861, anSCTP 1862, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 1863.

In NR implementations, the AP 1863 may be an NG application protocollayer (NGAP or NG-AP) 1863 for the NG interface 1213 defined between theNG-RAN node 1211 and the AMF 1421, or the AP 1863 may be an Xnapplication protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 1863 for the Xn interface1212 that is defined between two or more RAN nodes 1211.

The NG-AP 1863 may support the functions of the NG interface 1213 andmay comprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An NG-AP EP may be a unit ofinteraction between the NG-RAN node 1211 and the AMF 1421. The NG-AP1863 services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services (e.g.,services related to a UE 1201) and non-UE-associated services (e.g.,services related to the whole NG interface instance between the NG-RANnode 1211 and AMF 1421). These services may include functions including,but not limited to: a paging function for the sending of paging requeststo NG-RAN nodes 1211 involved in a particular paging area; a UE contextmanagement function for allowing the AMF 1421 to establish, modify,and/or release a UE context in the AMF 1421 and the NG-RAN node 1211; amobility function for UEs 1201 in ECM-CONNECTED mode for intra-systemHOs to support mobility within NG-RAN and inter-system HOs to supportmobility from/to EPS systems; a NAS Signaling Transport function fortransporting or rerouting NAS messages between UE 1201 and AMF 1421; aNAS node selection function for determining an association between theAMF 1421 and the UE 1201; NG interface management function(s) forsetting up the NG interface and monitoring for errors over the NGinterface; a warning message transmission function for providing meansto transfer warning messages via NG interface or cancel ongoingbroadcast of warning messages; a Configuration Transfer function forrequesting and transferring of RAN configuration information (e.g., SONinformation, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RANnodes 1211 via CN 1220; and/or other like functions.

The XnAP 1863 may support the functions of the Xn interface 1212 and maycomprise XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. TheXnAP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the NG RAN 1211 (or E-UTRAN 1310), such as handoverpreparation and cancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures,UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN pagingprocedures, dual connectivity related procedures, and the like. The XnAPglobal procedures may comprise procedures that are not related to aspecific UE 1201, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures,NG-RAN update procedures, cell activation procedures, and the like.

In LTE implementations, the AP 1863 may be an S1 Application Protocollayer (S1-AP) 1863 for the S1 interface 1213 defined between an E-UTRANnode 1211 and an MME, or the AP 1863 may be an X2 application protocollayer (X2AP or X2-AP) 1863 for the X2 interface 1212 that is definedbetween two or more E-UTRAN nodes 1211.

The S1 Application Protocol layer (S1-AP) 1863 may support the functionsof the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, theS1-AP may comprise S1-AP EPs. An S1-AP EP may be a unit of interactionbetween the E-UTRAN node 1211 and an MME 1321within an LTE CN 1220. TheS1-AP 1863 services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services andnon UE-associated services. These services perform functions including,but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UEcapability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RANInformation Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The X2AP 1863 may support the functions of the X2 interface 1212 and maycomprise X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. TheX2AP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the E-UTRAN 1220, such as handover preparation andcancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures, UE contextretrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, dualconnectivity related procedures, and the like. The X2AP globalprocedures may comprise procedures that are not related to a specific UE1201, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indicationprocedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, andthe like.

The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 1862 mayprovide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP orXnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTEimplementations). The SCTP 1862 may ensure reliable delivery ofsignaling messages between the RAN node 1211 and the AMF 1421/MME 1321based, in part, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP 1861. TheInternet Protocol layer (IP) 1861 may be used to perform packetaddressing and routing functionality. In some implementations the IPlayer 1861 may use point-to-point transmission to deliver and conveyPDUs. In this regard, the RAN node 1211 may comprise L2 and L1 layercommunication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME/AMF toexchange information.

In a second example, a user plane protocol stack may comprise, in orderfrom highest layer to lowest layer, SDAP 1847, PDCP 1840, RLC 1830, MAC1820, and PHY 1810. The user plane protocol stack may be used forcommunication between the UE 1201, the RAN node 1211, and UPF 1402 in NRimplementations or an S-GW 1322 and P-GW 1323 in LTE implementations. Inthis example, upper layers 1851 may be built on top of the SDAP 1847,and may include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer(UDP/IP) 1852, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocolfor the user plane layer (GTP-U) 1853, and a User Plane PDU layer (UPPDU) 1863.

The transport network layer 1854 (also referred to as a “transportlayer”) may be built on IP transport, and the GTP-U 1853 may be used ontop of the UDP/IP layer 1852 (comprising a UDP layer and IP layer) tocarry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also referred to as the“Internet layer”) may be used to perform packet addressing and routingfunctionality. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packetsin any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example.

The GTP-U 1853 may be used for carrying user data within the GPRS corenetwork and between the radio access network and the core network. Theuser data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPPformats, for example. The UDP/IP 1852 may provide checksums for dataintegrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the sourceand destination, and encryption and authentication on the selected dataflows. The RAN node 1211 and the S-GW 1322 may utilize an S1-U interfaceto exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer(e.g., PHY 1810), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 1820, RLC 1830, PDCP 1840,and/or SDAP 1847), the UDP/IP layer 1852, and the GTP-U 1853. The S-GW1322 and the P-GW 1323 may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange userplane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer, an L2 layer, theUDP/IP layer 1852, and the GTP-U 1853. As discussed previously, NASprotocols may support the mobility of the UE 1201 and the sessionmanagement procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity betweenthe UE 1201 and the P-GW 1323.

Moreover, although not shown by FIG. 18, an application layer may bepresent above the AP 1863 and/or the transport network layer 1854. Theapplication layer may be a layer in which a user of the UE 1201, RANnode 1211, or other network element interacts with software applicationsbeing executed, for example, by application circuitry 1505 orapplication circuitry 1605, respectively. The application layer may alsoprovide one or more interfaces for software applications to interactwith communications systems of the UE 1201 or RAN node 1211, such as thebaseband circuitry 1710. In some implementations the IP layer and/or theapplication layer may provide the same or similar functionality aslayers 5-7, or portions thereof, of the Open Systems Interconnection(OSI) model (e.g., OSI Layer 7—the application layer, OSI Layer 6—thepresentation layer, and OSI Layer 5—the session layer).

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of components of a core network,according to some embodiments. The components of the CN 1320 may beimplemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes includingcomponents to read and execute instructions from a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium). In embodiments, the components of CN 1420 may beimplemented in a same or similar manner as discussed herein with regardto the components of CN 1320. In some embodiments, NFV is utilized tovirtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions viaexecutable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storagemediums (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation ofthe CN 1320 may be referred to as a network slice 1901, and individuallogical instantiations of the CN 1320 may provide specific networkcapabilities and network characteristics. A logical instantiation of aportion of the CN 1320 may be referred to as a network sub-slice 1902(e.g., the network sub-slice 1902 is shown to include the P-GW 1323 andthe PCRF 1326).

As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the likemay refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer toa concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. A network instance may refer to informationidentifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection androuting in case of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. Anetwork slice instance may refer to a set of network functions (NFs)instances and the resources (e.g., compute, storage, and networkingresources) required to deploy the network slice.

With respect to 5G systems (see, e.g., FIG. 14), a network slice alwayscomprises a RAN part and a CN part. The support of network slicingrelies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled bydifferent PDU sessions. The network can realize the different networkslices by scheduling and also by providing different L1/L2configurations. The UE 1401 provides assistance information for networkslice selection in an appropriate RRC message, if it has been providedby NAS. While the network can support large number of slices, the UEneed not support more than 8 slices simultaneously.

A network slice may include the CN 1420 control plane and user planeNFs, NG-RANs 1410 in a serving PLMN, and a N3IWF functions in theserving PLMN. Individual network slices may have different S-NSSAIand/or may have different SSTs. NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, andeach network slice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slicesmay differ for supported features and network functions optimizations,and/or multiple network slice instances may deliver the sameservice/features but for different groups of UEs 1401 (e.g., enterpriseusers). For example, individual network slices may deliver differentcommitted service(s) and/or may be dedicated to a particular customer orenterprise. In this example, each network slice may have differentS-NSSAIs with the same SST but with different slice differentiators.Additionally, a single UE may be served with one or more network sliceinstances simultaneously via a 5G AN and associated with eight differentS-NSSAIs. Moreover, an AMF 1421 instance serving an individual UE 1401may belong to each of the network slice instances serving that UE.

Network Slicing in the NG-RAN 1410 involves RAN slice awareness. RANslice awareness includes differentiated handling of traffic fordifferent network slices, which have been pre-configured. Sliceawareness in the NG-RAN 1410 is introduced at the PDU session level byindicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to a PDU session in all signalingthat includes PDU session resource information. How the NG-RAN 1410supports the slice enabling in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., the setof network functions that comprise each slice) is implementationdependent. The NG-RAN 1410 selects the RAN part of the network sliceusing assistance information provided by the UE 1401 or the 5GC 1420,which unambiguously identifies one or more of the pre-configured networkslices in the PLMN. The NG-RAN 1410 also supports resource managementand policy enforcement between slices as per SLAs. A single NG-RAN nodemay support multiple slices, and the NG-RAN 1410 may also apply anappropriate RRM policy for the SLA in place to each supported slice. TheNG-RAN 1410 may also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

The NG-RAN 1410 may also use the UE assistance information for theselection of an AMF 1421 during an initial attach, if available. TheNG-RAN 1410 uses the assistance information for routing the initial NASto an AMF 1421. If the NG-RAN 1410 is unable to select an AMF 1421 usingthe assistance information, or the UE 1401 does not provide any suchinformation, the NG-RAN 1410 sends the NAS signaling to a default AMF1421, which may be among a pool of AMFs 1421. For subsequent accesses,the UE 1401 provides a temp ID, which is assigned to the UE 1401 by the5GC 1420, to enable the NG-RAN 1410 to route the NAS message to theappropriate AMF 1421 as long as the temp ID is valid. The NG-RAN 1410 isaware of, and can reach, the AMF 1421 that is associated with the tempID. Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

The NG-RAN 1410 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 1410resource isolation may be achieved by means of RRM policies andprotection mechanisms that should avoid that shortage of sharedresources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for anotherslice. In some implementations, it is possible to fully dedicate NG-RAN1410 resources to a certain slice. How NG-RAN 1410 supports resourceisolation is implementation dependent.

Some slices may be available only in part of the network. Awareness inthe NG-RAN 1410 of the slices supported in the cells of its neighborsmay be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Theslice availability may not change within the UE's registration area. TheNG-RAN 1410 and the 5GC 1420 are responsible to handle a service requestfor a slice that may or may not be available in a given area. Admissionor rejection of access to a slice may depend on factors such as supportfor the slice, availability of resources, support of the requestedservice by NG-RAN 1410.

The UE 1401 may be associated with multiple network slicessimultaneously. In case the UE 1401 is associated with multiple slicessimultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained, and forintra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 1401 tries to camp on the bestcell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities can beused to control the frequency on which the UE 1401 camps. The 5GC 1420is to validate that the UE 1401 has the rights to access a networkslice. Prior to receiving an Initial Context Setup Request message, theNG-RAN 1410 may be allowed to apply some provisional/local policies,based on awareness of a particular slice that the UE 1401 is requestingto access. During the initial context setup, the NG-RAN 1410 is informedof the slice for which resources are being requested.

NFV architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one ormore NFs, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physicalresources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware,storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be usedto execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of components that are able to readinstructions from a computer-readable storage medium, a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and to perform one or more methodologies or functions,according to some embodiments. Specifically, FIG. 20 shows adiagrammatic representation of hardware resources 2000 including one ormore processors (or processor cores) 2010, one or more memory/storagedevices 2020, and one or more communication resources 2030, each ofwhich may be communicatively coupled via a bus 2040. For embodimentswhere node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 2002 maybe executed to provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 2000.

The processors 2010 may include, for example, a processor 2012 and aprocessor 2014. The processor(s) 2010 may be, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC)processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, agraphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, anASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), anotherprocessor (including those discussed herein), or any suitablecombination thereof.

The memory/storage devices 2020 may include main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 2020 mayinclude, but are not limited to, any type of volatile or nonvolatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 2030 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 2004 or one or more databases 2006 via anetwork 2008. For example, the communication resources 2030 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellularcommunication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® LowEnergy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents.

Instructions 2050 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 2010 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 2050 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 2010 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 2020, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 2050 may be transferred to the hardware resources 2000 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 2004 or the databases 2006.Accordingly, the memory of processors 2010, the memory/storage devices2020, the peripheral devices 2004, and the databases 2006 are examplesof computer-readable and machine-readable media.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth inone or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one ormore operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth inthe example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry asdescribed above in connection with one or more of the preceding figuresmay be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of theexamples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated witha UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above inconnection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configuredto operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forthbelow in the example section.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 may include a method of SCell activation method in FR2, wherethe fine beam may be used for the exact CSI reporting of the SCell beingactivated.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, where a UE may perform TCI activation no later than the UEreporting the valid SCell CSI to a gNB.

Example 3 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, where the SCell activation in FR2 delay requirements may bedefined independently of a TCI activation delay.

Example 4 may include the method of example 2 or some other exampleherein, where the TCI activation delay may be based at least in part onrough or course beam information when measuring on an SCellconfiguration.

Example 5 may include the method of examples 3 and/or 4 or some otherexample herein, where the TCI activation may need at least[M]·TSMTC_SCell and where M is a non-zero integer.

Example 6 may include a method that uses a fine beam for CSI reportingof an SCell cell to be activated.

Example 7 may include the method that includes: receiving TCIconfiguration and L1 RSRP; performing a narrow beam search up to anetwork configuration; encoding a beam measurement report to betransmitted to a gNB; and receiving, from the gNB, a TCI activation.

Example 8 may include the method of example 7 or some other exampleherein, that includes: receiving, after receipt of the TCI activation,an SCell activation; and encoding, based at least in part on the SCellactivation, a valid CSI report of a narrow beam of the SCell to betransmitted to the gNB.

Example 9 may include a method that includes performing an SCellactivation in FR2 without TCI activation with Tactivation_time=[3ms+N·Tsmtc_max+TSMTC_SCell+2 ms] for a first type of SCell (such as anunknown SCell), and Tactivation_time=[3 ms+N·Tsmtc_max+2 ms] for asecond type of SCell (such as a known).

Example 10 may include a method that includes: performing a TCIactivation; and reporting a valid SCell CSI to a gNB, where the TCIactivation is to occur no later than the reporting of the valid SCellCSI.

Example 11 may include an apparatus comprising a means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples1-10, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 12 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-10, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 13 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-10, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 14 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-10, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 15 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-10, or portions thereof.

Example 16 may include a signal as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-10, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 17 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol dataunit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples1-10, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in thepresent disclosure.

Example 18 may include a signal encoded with data as described in orrelated to any of examples 1-10, or portions or parts thereof, orotherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example 19 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame,segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or relatedto any of examples 1-10, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwisedescribed in the present disclosure.

Example 20 may include an electromagnetic signal carryingcomputer-readable instructions, wherein execution of thecomputer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause theone or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process asdescribed in or related to any of examples 1-10, or portions thereof.

Example 21 may include a computer program comprising instructions,wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause theprocessing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process asdescribed in or related to any of examples 1-10, or portions thereof.

Example 22 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown anddescribed herein.

Example 23 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example 24 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 25 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any otherexample (or combination of examples), unless explicitly statedotherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementationsprovides illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Abbreviations

For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviationsmay apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein:

-   3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project-   4G Fourth Generation-   5G Fifth Generation-   5GC 5G Core network-   ACK Acknowledgement-   AF Application Function-   AM Acknowledged Mode-   AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate-   AMF Access and Mobility Management Function-   AN Access Network-   ANR Automatic Neighbor Relation-   AP Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access Point-   API Application Programming Interface-   APN Access Point Name-   ARP Allocation and Retention Priority-   ARQ Automatic Repeat Request-   AS Access Stratum-   ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One-   AUSF Authentication Server Function-   AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise-   BCH Broadcast Channel-   BER Bit Error Ratio-   BFD Beam Failure Detection-   BLER Block Error Rate-   BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying-   BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server-   BSS Business Support System-   BS Base Station-   BSR Buffer Status Report-   BW Bandwidth-   BWP Bandwidth Part-   C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity-   CA Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority-   CAPEX Capital Expenditure-   CBRA Contention Based Random Access-   CC Component Carrier, Country Code, Cryptographic Checksum-   CCA Clear Channel Assessment-   CCE Control Channel Element-   CCCH Common Control Channel-   CE Coverage Enhancement-   CDM Content Delivery Network-   CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access-   CFRA Contention Free Random Access-   CG Cell Group-   CI Cell Identity-   CID Cell-ID (e.g., positioning method)-   CIM Common Information Model-   CIR Carrier to Interference Ratio-   CK Cipher Key-   CM Connection Management, Conditional Mandatory-   CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service-   CMD Command-   CMS Cloud Management System-   CO Conditional Optional-   CoMP Coordinated Multi-Point-   CORESET Control Resource Set-   COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf-   CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Connection Point-   CPD Connection Point Descriptor-   CPE Customer Premise Equipment-   CPICH Common Pilot Channel-   CQI Channel Quality Indicator-   CPU CSI processing unit, Central Processing Unit-   C/R Command/Response field bit-   CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN-   CRB Common Resource Block-   CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check-   CRI Channel-State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS Resource    Indicator-   C-RNTI Cell RNTI-   CS Circuit Switched-   CSAR Cloud Service Archive-   CSI Channel-State Information-   CSI-IM CSI Interference Measurement-   CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal-   CSI-RSRP CSI reference signal received power-   CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal received quality-   CSI-SINR CSI signal-to-noise and interference ratio-   CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access-   CSMA/CA CSMA with collision avoidance-   CSS Common Search Space, Cell-specific Search Space-   CTS Clear-to-Send-   CW Codeword-   CWS Contention Window Size-   D2D Device-to-Device-   DC Dual Connectivity, Direct Current-   DCI Downlink Control Information-   DF Deployment Flavor-   DL Downlink-   DMTF Distributed Management Task Force-   DPDK Data Plane Development Kit-   DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal-   DN Data network-   DRB Data Radio Bearer-   DRS Discovery Reference Signal-   DRX Discontinuous Reception-   DSL Domain Specific Language. Digital Subscriber Line-   DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer-   DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot-   E-LAN Ethernet Local Area Network-   E2E End-to-End-   ECCA extended clear channel assessment, extended CCA-   ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE-   ED Energy Detection-   EDGE Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (GSM Evolution)-   EGMF Exposure Governance Management Function-   EGPRS Enhanced GPRS-   EIR Equipment Identity Register-   eLAA enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, enhanced LAA-   EM Element Manager-   eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband-   EMS Element Management System-   eNB evolved NodeB, E-UTRAN Node B-   EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity-   EPC Evolved Packet Core-   EPDCCH enhanced PDCCH, enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel-   EPRE Energy per resource element-   EPS Evolved Packet System-   EREG enhanced REG, enhanced resource element groups-   ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute-   ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System-   eUICC embedded UICC, embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card-   E-UTRAEvolved UTRA-   E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN-   EV2X Enhanced V2X-   F1AP F1 Application Protocol-   F1-C F1 Control plane interface-   F1-U F1 User plane interface-   FACCH Fast Associated Control CHannel-   FACCH/F Fast Associated Control Channel/Full rate-   FACCH/H Fast Associated Control Channel/Half rate-   FACH Forward Access Channel-   FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signalling Channel-   FB Functional Block-   FBI Feedback Information-   FCC Federal Communications Commission-   FCCH Frequency Correction CHannel-   FDD Frequency Division Duplex-   FDM Frequency Division Multiplex-   FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access-   FE Front End-   FEC Forward Error Correction-   FFS For Further Study-   FFT Fast Fourier Transformation-   feLAA further enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, further enhanced    LAA-   FN Frame Number-   FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array-   FR Frequency Range-   G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity-   GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network-   GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node-   GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Engl.:    Global Navigation Satellite System)-   gNB Next Generation NodeB-   gNB-CU gNB-centralized unit, Next Generation NodeB centralized unit-   gNB-DU gNB-distributed unit, Next Generation NodeB distributed unit-   GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System-   GPRS General Packet Radio Service-   GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Groupe Spécial Mobile-   GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol-   GTP-U GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for User Plane-   GTS Go To Sleep Signal (related to WUS)-   GUMMEI Globally Unique MME Identifier-   GUTI Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity-   HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-   HANDO, HO Handover-   HFN HyperFrame Number-   HHO Hard Handover-   HLR Home Location Register-   HN Home Network-   HO Handover-   HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network-   HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access-   HSN Hopping Sequence Number-   HSPA High Speed Packet Access-   HSS Home Subscriber Server-   HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access-   HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol-   HTTPS Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (https is http/1.1 over    SSL, i.e. port 443)-   I-Block Information Block-   ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identification-   ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination-   ID Identity, identifier-   IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform-   IE Information element-   IBE In-Band Emission-   IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-   IEI Information Element Identifier-   IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length-   IETF Internet Engineering Task Force-   IF Infrastructure-   IM Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia-   IMC IMS Credentials-   IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity-   IMGI International mobile group identity-   IMPI IP Multimedia Private Identity-   IMPU IP Multimedia PUblic identity-   IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem-   IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity-   IoT Internet of Things-   IP Internet Protocol-   Ipsec IP Security, Internet Protocol Security-   IP-CAN IP-Connectivity Access Network-   IP-M IP Multicast-   IPv4 Internet Protocol Version 4-   IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6-   IR Infrared-   IS In Sync-   IRP Integration Reference Point-   ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network-   ISIM IM Services Identity Module-   ISO International Organisation for Standardisation-   ISP Internet Service Provider-   IWF Interworking-Function-   I-WLAN Interworking WLAN-   K Constraint length of the convolutional code, USIM Individual key-   kB Kilobyte (1000 bytes)-   kbps kilo-bits per second-   Kc Ciphering key-   Ki Individual subscriber authentication key-   KPI Key Performance Indicator-   KQI Key Quality Indicator-   KSI Key Set Identifier-   ksps kilo-symbols per second-   KVM Kernel Virtual Machine-   L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)-   L1-RSRP Layer 1 reference signal received power-   L2 Layer 2 (data link layer)-   L3 Layer 3 (network layer)-   LAA Licensed Assisted Access-   LAN Local Area Network-   LBT Listen Before Talk-   LCM LifeCycle Management-   LCR Low Chip Rate-   LCS Location Services-   LCID Logical Channel ID-   LI Layer Indicator-   LLC Logical Link Control, Low Layer Compatibility-   LPLMN Local PLMN-   LPP LTE Positioning Protocol-   LSB Least Significant Bit-   LTE Long Term Evolution-   LWA LTE-WLAN aggregation-   LWIP LTE/WLAN Radio Level Integration with IPsec Tunnel-   LTE Long Term Evolution-   M2M Machine-to-Machine-   MAC Medium Access Control (protocol layering context)-   MAC Message authentication code (security/encryption context)-   MAC-A MAC used for authentication and key agreement (TSG T WG3    context)-   MAC-I MAC used for data integrity of signalling messages (TSG T WG3    context)-   MANO Management and Orchestration-   MBMS Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service-   MB SFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency    Network-   MCC Mobile Country Code-   MCG Master Cell Group-   MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time-   MCS Modulation and coding scheme-   MDAF Management Data Analytics Function-   MDAS Management Data Analytics Service-   MDT Minimization of Drive Tests-   ME Mobile Equipment-   MeNB master eNB-   MER Message Error Ratio-   MGL Measurement Gap Length-   MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period-   MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base-   MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output-   MLC Mobile Location Centre-   MM Mobility Management-   MME Mobility Management Entity-   MN Master Node-   MO Measurement Object, Mobile Originated-   MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast CHannel-   MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control CHannel-   MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared CHannel-   MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access CHannel-   MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel-   MPLS MultiProtocol Label Switching-   MS Mobile Station-   MSB Most Significant Bit-   MSC Mobile Switching Centre-   MSI Minimum System Information, MCH Scheduling Information-   MSID Mobile Station Identifier-   MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number-   MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number-   MT Mobile Terminated, Mobile Termination-   MTC Machine-Type Communications-   mMTC massive MTC, massive Machine-Type Communications-   MU-MIMO Multi User MIMO-   MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS-   NACK Negative Acknowledgement-   NAI Network Access Identifier-   NAS Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum layer-   NCT Network Connectivity Topology-   NEC Network Capability Exposure-   NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity-   NEF Network Exposure Function-   NF Network Function-   NFP Network Forwarding Path-   NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor-   NFV Network Functions Virtualization-   NFVI NFV Infrastructure-   NFVO NFV Orchestrator-   NG Next Generation, Next Gen-   NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity-   NM Network Manager-   NMS Network Management System-   N-PoP Network Point of Presence-   NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB-   NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast CHannel-   NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control CHannel-   NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared CHannel-   NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access CHannel-   NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared CHannel-   NPSS Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal-   NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal-   NR New Radio, Neighbor Relation-   NRF NF Repository Function-   NRS Narrowband Reference Signal-   NS Network Service-   NSA Non-Standalone operation mode-   NSD Network Service Descriptor-   NSR Network Service Record-   NSSAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information-   S-NNSAI Single-NSSAI-   NSSF Network Slice Selection Function-   NW Network-   NWUS Narrowband wake-up signal, Narrowband WUS-   NZP Non-Zero Power-   O&M Operation and Maintenance-   ODU2 Optical channel Data Unit—type 2-   OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing-   OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access-   OOB Out-of-band-   OOS Out of Sync-   OPEX OPerating EXpense-   OSI Other System Information-   OSS Operations Support System-   OTA over-the-air-   PAPR Peak-to-Average Power Ratio-   PAR Peak to Average Ratio-   PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel-   PC Power Control, Personal Computer-   PCC Primary Component Carrier, Primary CC-   PCell Primary Cell-   PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity-   PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function-   PCF Policy Control Function-   PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function-   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet Data Convergence    Protocol layer-   PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel-   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol-   PDN Packet Data Network, Public Data Network-   PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel-   PDU Protocol Data Unit-   PEI Permanent Equipment Identifiers-   PFD Packet Flow Description-   P-GW PDN Gateway-   PHICH Physical hybrid-ARQ indicator channel-   PHY Physical layer-   PLMN Public Land Mobile Network-   PIN Personal Identification Number-   PM Performance Measurement-   PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator-   PNF Physical Network Function-   PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor-   PNFR Physical Network Function Record-   POC PTT over Cellular-   PP, PTP Point-to-Point-   PPP Point-to-Point Protocol-   PRACH Physical RACH-   PRB Physical resource block-   PRG Physical resource block group-   ProSe Proximity Services, Proximity-Based Service-   PRS Positioning Reference Signal-   PRR Packet Reception Radio-   PS Packet Services-   PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel-   PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel-   PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel-   PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel-   PSCell Primary SCell-   PSS Primary Synchronization Signal-   PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network-   PT-RS Phase-tracking reference signal-   PTT Push-to-Talk-   PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel-   PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel-   QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation-   QCI QoS class of identifier-   QCL Quasi co-location-   QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier-   QoS Quality of Service-   QPSK Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying-   QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System-   RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI-   RAB Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst-   RACH Random Access Channel-   RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service-   RAN Radio Access Network-   RAND RANDom number (used for authentication)-   RAR Random Access Response-   RAT Radio Access Technology-   RAU Routing Area Update-   RB Resource block, Radio Bearer-   RBG Resource block group-   REG Resource Element Group-   Rel Release-   REQ REQuest-   RF Radio Frequency-   RI Rank Indicator-   RIV Resource indicator value-   RL Radio Link-   RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control layer-   RLC AM RLC Acknowledged Mode-   RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode-   RLF Radio Link Failure-   RLM Radio Link Monitoring-   RLM-RS Reference Signal for RLM-   RM Registration Management-   RMC Reference Measurement Channel-   RMSI Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information-   RN Relay Node-   RNC Radio Network Controller-   RNL Radio Network Layer-   RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier-   ROHC Robust Header Compression-   RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control layer-   RRM Radio Resource Management-   RS Reference Signal-   RSRP Reference Signal Received Power-   RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality-   RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator-   RSU Road Side Unit-   RSTD Reference Signal Time difference-   RTP Real Time Protocol-   RTS Ready-To-Send-   RTT Round Trip Time-   Rx Reception, Receiving, Receiver-   S1AP S1 Application Protocol-   S1-MME S1 for the control plane-   S1-U S1 for the user plane-   S-GW Serving Gateway-   S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identity-   S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Station Identifier-   SA Standalone operation mode-   SAE System Architecture Evolution-   SAP Service Access Point-   SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor-   SAPI Service Access Point Identifier-   SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC-   SCell Secondary Cell-   SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access-   SCG Secondary Cell Group-   SCM Security Context Management-   SCS Subcarrier Spacing-   SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol-   SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation    Protocol layer-   SDL Supplementary Downlink-   SDNF Structured Data Storage Network Function-   SDP Session Description Protocol-   SDSF Structured Data Storage Function-   SDU Service Data Unit-   SEAF Security Anchor Function-   SeNB secondary eNB-   SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy-   SFI Slot format indication-   SFTD Space-Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and frame timing difference-   SFN System Frame Number-   SgNB Secondary gNB-   SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node-   S-GW Serving Gateway-   SI System Information-   SI-RNTI System Information RNTI-   SIB System Information Block-   SIM Subscriber Identity Module-   SIP Session Initiated Protocol-   SiP System in Package-   SL Sidelink-   SLA Service Level Agreement-   SM Session Management-   SMF Session Management Function-   SMS Short Message Service-   SMSF SMS Function-   SMTC SSB-based Measurement Timing Configuration-   SN Secondary Node, Sequence Number-   SoC System on Chip-   SON Self-Organizing Network-   SpCell Special Cell-   SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI-   SPS Semi-Persistent Scheduling-   SQN Sequence number-   SR Scheduling Request-   SRB Signalling Radio Bearer-   SRS Sounding Reference Signal-   SS Synchronization Signal-   SSB Synchronization Signal Block, SS/PBCH Block-   SSBRI SS/PBCH Block Resource Indicator, Synchronization Signal Block    Resource Indicator-   SSC Session and Service Continuity-   SS-RSRP Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received Power-   SS-RSRQ Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received    Quality-   SS-SINR Synchronization Signal based Signal to Noise and    Interference Ratio-   SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal-   SSSG Search Space Set Group-   SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator-   SST Slice/Service Types-   SU-MIMO Single User MIMO-   SUL Supplementary Uplink-   TA Timing Advance, Tracking Area-   TAC Tracking Area Code-   TAG Timing Advance Group-   TAU Tracking Area Update-   TB Transport Block-   TBS Transport Block Size-   TBD To Be Defined-   TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator-   TCP Transmission Communication Protocol-   TDD Time Division Duplex-   TDM Time Division Multiplexing-   TDMA Time Division Multiple Access-   TE Terminal Equipment-   TEID Tunnel End Point Identifier-   TFT Traffic Flow Template-   TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity-   TNL Transport Network Layer-   TPC Transmit Power Control-   TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator-   TR Technical Report-   TRP, TRxP Transmission Reception Point-   TRS Tracking Reference Signal-   TRx Transceiver-   TS Technical Specifications, Technical Standard-   TTI Transmission Time Interval-   Tx Transmission, Transmitting, Transmitter-   U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity-   UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter-   UCI Uplink Control Information-   UE User Equipment-   UDM Unified Data Management-   UDP User Datagram Protocol-   UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function-   UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card-   UL Uplink-   UM Unacknowledged Mode-   UML Unified Modelling Language-   UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System-   UP User Plane-   UPF User Plane Function-   URI Uniform Resource Identifier-   URL Uniform Resource Locator-   URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency-   USB Universal Serial Bus-   USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module-   USS UE-specific search space-   UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access-   UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network-   UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot-   V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastructure-   V2P Vehicle-to-Pedestrian-   V2V Vehicle-to-Vehicle-   V2X Vehicle-to-everything-   VIM Virtualized Infrastructure Manager-   VL Virtual Link,-   VLAN Virtual LAN, Virtual Local Area Network-   VM Virtual Machine-   VNF Virtualized Network Function-   VNFFG VNF Forwarding Graph-   VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor-   VNFM VNF Manager-   VoIP Voice-over-IP, Voice-over-Internet Protocol-   VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Network-   VPN Virtual Private Network-   VRB Virtual Resource Block-   WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access-   WLAN Wireless Local Area Network-   WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network-   WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network-   X2-C X2-Control plane-   X2-U X2-User plane-   XML eXtensible Markup Language-   XRES EXpected user RESponse-   XOR eXclusive OR-   ZC Zadoff-Chu-   ZP Zero Power

Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms anddefinitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussedherein.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includeshardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, aprocessor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared,dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), ahigh-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC),digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to providethe described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry mayexecute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at leastsome of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also referto a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination ofcircuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the programcode used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In theseembodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code maybe referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carryingout a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording,storing, and/or transferring digital data. The term “processorcircuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or morebaseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), asingle-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, aquad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing orotherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as programcode, software modules, and/or functional processes. The terms“application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may De consideredsynonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between twoor more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may referto one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces,peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or thelike.

The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device withradio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user ofnetwork resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment”or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as,client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobileunit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station,access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurableradio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, theterm “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wireddevice or any computing device including a wireless communicationsinterface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical orvirtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired orwireless communication network services. The term “network element” maybe considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer,networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch,hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway,server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any typeinterconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or componentsthereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” mayrefer to various components of a computer that are communicativelycoupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or“system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiplecomputing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another andconfigured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used hereinrefers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g.,software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide aspecific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machineimage to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizesor emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide aspecific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtualdevice, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment,and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, suchas computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPUtime, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardwaretime or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports ornetwork sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage,storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or thelike. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/ornetwork resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A“virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or networkresources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application,device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communicationresource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computerdevices/systems via a communications network. The term “systemresources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services,and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources maybe considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects orservices, accessible through a server where such system resources resideon a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium,either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or adata stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalentto “communications channel,” “data communications channel,”“transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,”“data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequencycarrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or mediumthrough which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” asused herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT forthe purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used hereinrefers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivativesthereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another,may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other butstill cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one ormore other elements are coupled or connected between the elements thatare said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” maymean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another.The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elementsmay be in contact with one another by a means of communication includingthrough a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wirelesscommunication channel or ink, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containingone or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of aninformation element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configurationconfigured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on theprimary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initialconnection establishment procedure or initiates the connectionre-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UEperforms random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Syncprocedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radioresources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cellscomprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UEconfigured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cellcomprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cellscomprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell ofthe SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers tothe Pcell.

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiableinformation should follow privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular,personally identifiable information data should be managed and handledso as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use,and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

While the preceding embodiments illustrate embodiments of thecommunication techniques using frequency sub-bands, in other embodimentsthe communication techniques may involve the concurrent use of differenttemporal slots, and/or or a combination of different frequencysub-bands, different frequency bands and/or different temporal slots.

In the preceding description, we refer to ‘some embodiments.’ Note that‘some embodiments’ describes a subset of all of the possibleembodiments, but does not always specify the same subset of embodiments.

While examples of numerical values are provided in the precedingdiscussion, in other embodiments different numerical values are used.Consequently, the numerical values provided are not intended to belimiting.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A baseband processor, comprising: an interface circuit configured to communicate with a radio frequency (RF) circuit; a baseband circuit, coupled to the interface circuit, configured to process baseband signals associated with the RF circuit; and control logic, coupled to the interface circuit and the baseband circuit, configured to execute program instructions, wherein, when the control logic executes the program instructions, the baseband processor is configured to: provide, addressed to an electronic device in a wireless communication system, information comprising a measurement configuration associated with the wireless communication system; conduct, with the electronic device, a secondary cell (SCell) activation procedure of an SCell, wherein the SCell activation procedure comprises: providing, addressed to the electronic device, the SCell activation; and receiving, associated with the electronic device, channel state information (CSI) of a narrow beam pattern of the SCell that is to be activated, wherein the narrow beam pattern is narrower than a wide beam pattern of the electronic device, and the narrow beam pattern is based at least in part on measurements performed using the narrow beam pattern; and provide, addressed to the electronic device, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation, wherein the TCI activation is provided no later than the receiving of the CSI of the narrow beam pattern of the SCell.
 22. The baseband processor of claim 21, wherein the measurement configuration comprises a physical layer (L1) reference signal receive power (RSRP) measurement configuration.
 23. The baseband processor of claim 21, wherein the baseband processor is configured to receive, associated with the electronic device, results of the measurements.
 24. The baseband processor of claim 21, wherein an SCell activation delay requirement in the SCell activation procedure is independent of a TCI activation delay.
 25. The baseband processor of claim 24, wherein the TCI activation delay is based at least in part on second measurements performed using a second beam pattern that is wider than the narrow beam pattern and the second measurements are based at least in part on an SCell configuration.
 26. The baseband processor of claim 25, wherein the TCI activation has a time duration of at least a non-zero integer multiple of a synchronization signal block (SSB)-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) time (TSMTC) of the SCell.
 27. A computer system, comprising: a networking subsystem configured to communicate with an electronic device in a wireless communication system; a processing subsystem coupled to the networking subsystem; memory, coupled to the processing subsystem, configured to store program instructions, wherein, when executed by the processing subsystem, the program instructions cause the computer system to perform operations comprising: providing, addressed to an electronic device, information comprising a measurement configuration associated with the wireless communication system; conducting, with the electronic device, a secondary cell (SCell) activation procedure of an SCell, wherein the SCell activation procedure comprises: providing, addressed to the electronic device, the SCell activation; and receiving, associated with the electronic device, channel state information (CSI) of a narrow beam pattern of the SCell that is to be activated, wherein the narrow beam pattern is narrower than a wide beam pattern of the electronic device, and the narrow beam pattern is based at least in part on measurements performed using the narrow beam pattern; and providing, addressed to the electronic device, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation, wherein the TCI activation is provided no later than the receiving of the CSI of the narrow beam pattern of the SCell.
 28. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the measurement configuration comprises a physical layer (L1) reference signal receive power (RSRP) measurement configuration.
 29. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the operations comprise receiving, associated with the electronic device, results of the measurements.
 30. The computer system of claim 27, wherein an SCell activation delay requirement in the SCell activation procedure is independent of a TCI activation delay.
 31. The computer system of claim 30, wherein the TCI activation delay is based at least in part on second measurements performed using a second beam pattern that is wider than the narrow beam pattern and the second measurements are based at least in part on an SCell configuration.
 32. The computer system of claim 31, wherein the TCI activation has a time duration of at least a non-zero integer multiple of a synchronization signal block (SSB)-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) time (TSMTC) of the SCell.
 33. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the computer system comprises an eNodeB or a gNB.
 34. An electronic device, comprising: an antenna; an interface circuit, coupled to the antenna, configured to communicate with a radio node in a wireless communication system, wherein the electronic device is configured to: receive, associated with the radio node, information comprising a measurement configuration associated with the wireless communication system; perform measurements using narrow beam patterns based at least in part on a network configuration, wherein the narrow beam patterns are narrower than a wide beam pattern of the electronic device; conduct, with the radio node, a secondary cell (SCell) activation procedure of an SCell, wherein the SCell activation procedure comprises: receiving, associated with the radio node, the SCell activation; and reporting, addressed to the radio node, channel state information (CSI) of a narrow beam pattern of the SCell that is to be activated, wherein the narrow beam pattern is narrower than the wide beam pattern of the electronic device, and the narrow beam pattern is based at least in part on the measurements; and receive, associated with the radio node, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation, wherein the TCI activation is received no later than the reporting of the CSI of the narrow beam pattern of the SCell.
 35. The electronic device of claim 34, wherein the measurement configuration comprises a physical layer (L1) reference signal receive power (RSRP) measurement configuration.
 36. The electronic device of claim 34, wherein performing the measurements using the narrow beams pattern comprises performing a beam-pattern search up to the network configuration.
 37. The electronic device of claim 34, wherein the electronic device is configured to provide, addressed to the radio node, results of the measurements.
 38. The electronic device of claim 34, wherein an SCell activation delay requirement in the SCell activation procedure is independent of a TCI activation delay.
 39. The electronic device of claim 38, wherein the TCI activation delay is based at least in part on second measurements performed using a second beam pattern that is wider than the narrow beam pattern and the second measurements are based at least in part on an SCell configuration.
 40. The electronic device of claim 39, wherein the TCI activation has a time duration of at least a non-zero integer multiple of a synchronization signal block (SSB)-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) time (TSMTC) of the SCell. 